


The Labyrinth of London: The Blonde Babe

by FarGreenCountrySwiftSunrise



Series: The Labyrinth of London [4]
Category: Labyrinth (1986), Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Episode: s01e02 The Blind Banker, F/M, Family, Gen, Mystery, Protective Siblings, Romance, Siblings, Slow Burn, The Blind Banker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-02-04
Packaged: 2017-11-27 01:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/656744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FarGreenCountrySwiftSunrise/pseuds/FarGreenCountrySwiftSunrise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jareth and Sarah are not exactly in domestic bliss with their new living arrangements. Then, of course, there is a murder or two to spice things up. UST J/S. Part II of The Labyrinth of London.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Thin White Sleuth...](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/15883) by Pika-la-Cynique. 



> The Almighty Disclaimer  
> Oh Moffat, Gatiss, and Thompson  
> Oh Henson and Doyle,  
> And Pika-la Cynique the generous,  
> To you belongs all the characters  
> And none so for me!
> 
> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique(http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame. 
> 
> This is "The Blind Banker" episode (which I actually enjoy quite a bit, though parts of the fandom are not as fond of it). The question is: who is the Blonde Babe? Glitter bombs to whoever guesses the correct answer.

Detective Inspector Lestrade was not quite sure why he put up with Jareth most days. 

The man (or more probably Fae if not outright goblin) was rattling on about something nobody knew about half the time and was an arrogant reprobate the other half. He constantly was going off on his own, terrifying suspects, messing with evidence, and sticking pop-up snakes in Lestrade's desk drawers.

Sarah Williams was not helping things either, much to Lestrade's surprise.

Oh, she was a good woman. Always polite, always caring. However, it was very obvious very quickly that anyone Jareth was interested in had a bit of goblin in them. (Ms. Williams was the one who had a silly string bomb go off in his office. Lestrade was sure of it.) Though there were times when she reined Jareth in, most of the time she let the former Goblin King wreak havoc and sometimes out right encouraged it.

_Americans. Bloody cowboys, all of them._

Despite this, they did solve the odd cases. The ones that should not exist, even in a world of magic.

Which was why Lestrade was personally coming to deal with an emergency call from 221b Baker Street. A next door neighbor had called and said that a man with a sword was attacking the residents of 221b.

Lestrade was nearby with Donovan and decided to come answer the call. Jareth had probably angered someone and that person had finally snapped. _Not that I'd blame 'em. Still, Mrs. Hudson is a kind lady and Sarah doesn't deserve a sword in the gut._

The door to 221 Baker Street was open and there were bobbies at the door by the time the DI arrived. "What have you got?" Lestrade asked.

"About to go in," one of the police officers said.

There was no need as a body dressed like something out of _Lawrence of Arabia_ fell down the steps. A sword went over the banister and narrowly avoided the body.

"Sorry!" a female voice called from the upper level.

"Sarah, are you all right? Anyone else there?" Lestrade asked.

"Oh just some friends who like mazes," Sarah said.

_Bloody hell. Labyrinth residents. Can't have the normal bobbies deal with that._

"Tell your friends to stay up there. We're coming in," Lestrade said.

"Of course, good sir," a somewhat squeaky voice said.

Lestrade and Donovan took the upstairs while the bobbies took care of the (still living) intruder. Sarah sat in one of the arm chairs and had pulled her legs up to her chest. An orange yeti and an ugly dwarf sat in the living room. A fox/dog paced furiously, a rapier at his side.

"My lady, you need not to have fought that cretin," the small creature said.

"I did not exactly have time to call you until I was already mostly done," Sarah said, "Sorry Detective Inspector for your trouble. This guy came in and demanded that Jareth take on this Jaria diamond case. I said no, that Jareth wasn't interested and this guy tries to whack off my head."

"And the costume didn't warn you that this guy was a nut job?" Donovan asked.

Sarah motioned to her friends. "Not really, no."

"Why are there policemen in my flat, Sarah?" Jareth asked. Lestrade turned and saw Jareth leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I was just dealing with a little mess of yours," Sarah said, "It would have been nice to know that one of your potential clients had a murderous streak. I thought that was what we were trying to avoid."

Lestrade took a step back as he saw a glint of anger cross Jareth's eyes. Jareth stalked forward and glowered over Sarah. "I go out for a half hour and you nearly get yourself killed. You probably said something to anger the man and it would have been obvious from his sword that he was not a man to be trifled. Sarah, it is hardly my fault that you do not take precautions against obviously dangerous creatures. Honestly, after all these years..."

"Ha! Glitter, poofy hair, and tights hardly create a 'dangerous' creature, Jareth. As for your outing, where are those groceries?" Sarah asked.

"I had a row in the shop with the chip and pin machine," Jareth said, "I returned to borrow cash as the ATMs will not work for me either."

"You had a what in the shop with a what and what machine?" Sarah asked.

Jareth spoke with exaggerated slowness. "I had a fight with the self-checkout machine," Jareth said.

"You had a fight with self-checkout?" Sarah said.

"Somewhat. It sat there and I shouted abuse," Jareth said.

Sarah spoke in false sympathy. "Awww. Did the widdle machine beat up poor wittle Jaweth and wittle Jaweth couldn't kick it?"

The dwarf made his way over to the Sergeant and the Inspector. "This may go on for awhile. If the goblins weren't off celebrating St. Patty's Day, we'd be having a bet going."

"Saint Patrick's Day was almost a week ago," Sergeant Donovan said.

"They believe in celebrating well. Hoggle is my name," Hoggle said, "The walking carpet is Ludo. The little knight is Sir Didymus. I knows who you two are."

Lestrade was covering his mouth, laughing at Jareth and Sarah's argument. It was currently disintegrating into what was the best way to ruin each other's hair products.

"Honestly, no one's hair naturally glitters!" Sarah said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, nothing beats glitter jokes to get back into the swing of writing _Labyrinth_ fanfiction. And yes, I did get a _Star Wars_ reference in the story.


	2. Chapter I: Withdrawl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

"I am afraid I am going to have to break this up," Lestrade said, "We need to take Sarah's statement."

"But she's in my chair!" Jareth said.

"It is not your chair, Jareth," Sarah said, "Besides, aren't you supposed to be out getting groceries?"

"Money, old girl," Jareth said.

Sarah rolled her eyes and was about to stand when she realized something. She gripped the sides of the chair. "I am not getting off this chair, Jareth, just so you can steal it."

"Curses. My evil plan has been revealed," Jareth said, "I will just take it myself. Maybe I should get some... other items while I am out as well."

"No. Don't you dare," Sarah hissed.

"Don't defy me and it will not happen," Jareth said.

Sarah and Jareth had a staring contest for about a minute before Sarah moved off the chair and quickly ran to her room for her wallet. When she returned, Jareth had sat down on the chair and smiled as he sprawled out.

"Sarah, how kind of you to go fetch the..."

"Shut it," Sarah said, "I have to finish cleaning up this mess you made. Go get us food before I exchange you for a goblin's chicken."

Jareth raised an eyebrow but took the money and left. Lestrade was covering up a guffaw. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus were sprawled on the floor playing Scrabble.

Donovan spoke. "What. The. Hell."

"What seems to be the problem?" Sarah asked.

"How did you do that? Get him to do as you told," Sally asked.

"Ever heard of M.A.D.?" Sarah asked, "Mutually Assured Destruction? That is Jareth and I's policy. If one of us steps out of line, the other has blackmail that will bring the person back into... I would hate to say sanity but a general sense of living with another creature is restored."

"And what info do you got on Jareth?" Donovan asked.

"If I tell you, then he'll have power over me," Sarah said. She smiled. "Just because we play the game doesn't mean we will really hurt each other. The day we do will be a truly terrible day. Now, I believe I have a story to tell."

&%&%&%

Jareth came about a half hour later, carrying several bags of groceries. Donovan and Lestrade had long gone as well as Hoggle and Ludo. Sir Didymus remained by his lady's side as she typed something on the computer.

"The Lady Sarah is well, my lord," Sir Didymus said with a bow.

"Sir Didymus, you may return to the Labyrinth if you wish," Jareth said.

"I have been gone from the Bog for awhile, Lady Sarah," Sir Didymus said, "By your leave?"

"Of course, Sir Didymus. Thank you for your help," Sarah said, kissing her small knight on the cheek.

"Well, I, good day," Sir Didymus said before disappearing.

Jareth slammed a cabinet shut. "You put my sub... your friends in danger as well as yourself," he said.

"I handled the situation as best as I could," Sarah said.

Jareth walked over to where Sarah sat and glanced over her shoulder. "Is that a blog?"

"Yes," Sarah said.

"That you are writing?"

"Yes."

"About my difficulties with machines?"

"Sometimes."

"What do you mean 'sometimes'?"

"Don't worry, I say the investigations are fictional," Sarah said, "Besides, who would believe that I live with a goblin?"

"True, very true," Jareth said.

Sarah suddenly realized that Jareth's arms were resting around her. His head was by her right ear and they were almost touching. She felt hazy and warm.

"Sarah."

"Yes?" Sarah asked drowsily.

"I need to go to the bank."

Sarah blinked a few times before answering. "What?"

"I need to go to the bank and make a withdrawal," Jareth said.

"Well go then," Sarah said.

"Sarah, think for a moment."

"...Those poor ATM's."

&%&%&%

Sarah said as they entered a large, beautiful office building, "When you said we were going to the bank..."

"I owe someone a favor," Jareth said.

"And that requires cashing it at an investment bank?" Sarah asked.

"Not quite," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

"Mr. Jareth King? Sebastian Wilkes," a well-dressed business man said.

"I am. This is Sarah Williams, my friend," Jareth said.

"Friend?" Wilkes said.

"Colleague," Sarah said, shaking Sebastian's hand.

They sat down in Mr. Wilkes office which had a fantastic view of London. Wilkes gave Sarah a bit more attention than she was comfortable with. "Need something? Coffee? Water?"

"No thank you," Sarah said, "Jareth, do you need something?"

"No," Jareth said.

Wilkes turned toward his personal assistant. "We're all sorted here, thanks."

After the assistant left, Sebastian sat and focused his attentions on Jareth. "I was hoping for Sherlock Holmes but he said that he could not come."

"Yes, he retired from the detective game a few years ago," Jareth said, "We worked together for a few years before that. I assure you, I can take care of this job as well as Mr. Holmes."

Wilkes looked at Sarah with an appraising eye for the next part of the conversation. "Sherlock and I were at Uni together, and he had this trick he used to do."

"What Sherlock does is not a trick," Jareth said.

"He could look at you and tell your whole life story," Sebastian said.

"And probably came down to breakfast and he could tell who you'd been screwing the previous night," Sarah said, "In your case, probably not often, unless it was with yourself."

Jareth covered up a chuckle with a cough.

Wilkes became less hospitable. "Let's get on with it, shall we?"

As they followed Sebastian Wilkes out to the scene of the crime, Jareth whispered to Sarah, "I am glad your wit is not being used against me."

"Honestly, is what I am wearing immodest? It's not a turtleneck but still..."

"Sarah, you are a very beautiful woman and he has no manners," Jareth said.

Wilkes swiped a card through an electronic key pad outside an office. "Sir William's Office. The bank's former chairman. His room has been left here - like a sort of memorial..."

"Someone broke in here late last night," Sebastian said.

"What did they steal?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing," Sebastian said, flipping on a light, "They just left a little message."

Jareth tilted his head to the side. "I will assume it is not one of those modern art travesties."

&%&%&

As Wilkes played the security footage in his office, he explained. "Sixty seconds apart. So someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around - then left within a minute."

"How many ways into that office?" Jareth asked.

"That's where this gets really interesting," Sebastian said, leading them to the reception desk.

Wilkes showed the records and Jareth was very careful not to touch the computer. "The door did not open last night. You want us to find out the hole in your security."

"Find it and we'll pay you five figures," Sebastian said. He took a check out of his pocket and handed it to Jareth. The former Goblin King merely looked at it.

"Aye curumba," Sarah said.

"I will not take money on this," Jareth said. He walked off to the office to investigate.

"He's joking, obviously. I'll look after that for him," Sarah said, taking the check. She looked at the number again and resisted the urge to fan herself.

&%&%&

"Sarah, I need you to take some photographs of this picture," Jareth said.

"Why can't you... never mind," Sarah said, snapping several photos with her phone, "I thought the gremlins were going to leave you alone."

"Nothing has caught on fire this week," Jareth said. He was over by the balcony and had hopped onto the ledge and dangled precariously over the balcony's edge. "Either they flew in or they climbed up."

"Oh good grief. Jareth, get down from there," Sarah said.

"All right," Jareth said. He dangled off the edge using one arm.

"Jareth! Get back in here! Now! That is not funny!" Sarah said. She ran to the balcony.

Jareth popped his head over the railing. "Worried, precious?"

"Haven't we discussed that name? Fine then. Kill yourself. I'm not cleaning it up you sadistic egotist," Sarah said.

Jareth pulled himself back onto solid ground. "You wound me, Sarah, with the truth you speak."

"Don't do that again," Sarah said, "I hate heights. I can deal with them. It isn't a phobia. It is just... uncomfortable."

Jareth raised an eyebrow at this. "Then your fall was particularly brave then."

"It wasn't," Sarah said, "I had to save Toby. The best way to die is to save someone you love, who cares how it happens?"

Jareth nodded and left the office.

&%&%&

"What is he doing?" Sebastian asked Sarah as Jareth popped up and down between office cubicles.

Sarah tilted her head. "No idea. He does this a lot. He's a kangaroo crossed with a demented squirrel who stuck his head into a bucket of bleach."

"Why do you put up with him?" Wilkes asked.

"Because he saves people for neither glory nor power of his own," Sarah said, "which is more than can be said for most people."

Jareth paused outside an office and smirked. He wrote something down in a notebook and walked back casually to Sarah. "I have enough to work with for now. I will contact you Mr. Wilkes when I have more information."

&%&%&

When they were going down the escalator, Sarah spoke. "So, why would Sherlock want you to help a man who tortured him in college?"

"It is university over here, Sarah," Jareth said, "Wilkes is a prideful man and if he is asking Sherlock for help, he has sunk low. Sherlock is showing off a bit, even if he is not here personally."

"And what information do you have?" Sarah asked.

"I do not remember where or what it means, but that graffiti is a code. It is a message for someone at the bank who is working on the trading floor. We find the intended recipient and..."

"He'll lead us to the person who sent it."

"Of course."

"There are three hundred people up there and you obviously got whoever the message was intended. How did you figure it out?"

"The pillars and the screens made it so that there were very few places where you could see the graffiti. Of course, the message was left at 11:34 last night. That tells us a lot."

"Really?"

"Traders come to work at all hours. Some people trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. The message was intended for someone who came in at midnight."

"And the winner is...?"

"Van Coon. That name is not very common so it should be easy to find him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, I did steal the idea of M.A.D. particularly from _WarGames_ , yet another great 80's movie. (M.A.D. applies to nuclear war in particular, but other situations as well. _,WarGames_ ,was just how I was introduced to the idea.)


	3. Chapter II: Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

Jareth hated modern apartments. They were so cold and disconnected with one's neighbors. Fortunately, this made it much easier to manipulate people into doing what he wanted.

"So, what now?" Sarah asked, "Are we just going to sit here until Eddie Van Coon comes back?"

"No, we are going to be asked to be let into the apartment," Jareth said, "See this one? This person just moved in. Buzz them and say that we are their neighbors in the flat below them."

"Why can't you do it?"

Jareth smiled. "My secret."

Sarah rolled her eyes and hit the buzzer. A female voice came in over the speaker. "Hello?"

"Hello. We live in the flat just below you. I don't think we've met," Sarah said, turning on her best charm.

"No. Well, I've just moved in," the woman said.

"I've actually locked our keys in our flat," Sarah said.

Jareth rested his head on Sarah's shoulder so he could be in view of the camera. "You want me to buzz you in?" the woman asked.

"Why thank you," Jareth said, "Can I borrow your balcony?"

"What?" the two women said.

&%&%&%

One of the things that Jareth hated the most about the loss of his magic was his ability to change into an owl. Dropping down from this balcony to Van Coon's was the closest thing he had felt to flying in years. The rush of air, the moment where gravity no longer applies, everything, he missed. He looked up at Sarah's look of concern and Jareth remembered why he gave it all up.

"I am all right Sarah. Just go down to the flat and I will let you in," Jareth said, "I do not want you to break your neck."

"All right, Jareth. Don't mess with anything," Sarah said.

Jareth laughed and opened the unlocked balcony door. He explored the flat, which was in the ugly, clean, modern style. _A little mess would make things homier. Why do these people live in such discomfort?_

The kitchen was bare save for a bottle of champagne. By the time Jareth got to the bathroom, he could faintly hear Sarah at the door. _Can't have her spoiling my fun..._ He ignored her and smelled the liquid soap in the bathroom. _Feminine. Van Coon has a lover._

Jareth moved on to the bedroom. For the first time, Jareth came to a locked door, but it felt more like something was blocking the entrance. After a few tries, he forced the door open. 

Van Coon lay on his bed, shot though the head.

"Such a pity."

&%&%&%

As the police examined the flat, Sarah watched Jareth as he gathered up the dreams of Eddie Van Coon. "Maybe he lost a lot of money. You hear all the time folks killing themselves all the time. Like when Wall Street crashing in 1929. People throwing themselves out of windows and..."

Jareth interrupted Sarah. "Only one person threw themselves out the window in 1929 and it was a female secretary. Men prefer to kill themselves with guns, which is why, though men attempt to kill themselves less than women, they are more likely to complete the deed. However, it may not be suicide. I am not sensing that kind of despair. There is very little dreams left from this man." He held up the complete crystal and played with it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket.

With care, Jareth examined the open suitcase. "He has been away for about three days, judging by the laundry. Something was packed tightly inside this case."

"Thanks. I'll take your word for it," Sarah said as she examined Van Coon's corpse.

"What is wrong, Sarah?" Jareth said with a sigh.

"I have no desire to look around in some guy's underwear. I get squeamish doing my own laundry," Sarah said.

Jareth resisted laughing at the absurdity of the comment as Sarah examined Eddie's head wound with a thumb sized magnifying glass. He joined her by the body.

"The graffiti at the bank was some sort of message with a code. Now, why do that when an e-mail could work?"

"Maybe he wasn't answering," Sarah said. She took the crystal from Jareth's pocket and examined the dream.

"Good. You follow," Jareth said.

"Nope. Now shut up, this dream is unstable. I'll restore your magic in the cab ride back," Sarah said.

Jareth noticed something in Van Coon's mouth. He carefully removed a squashed ball of black paper. Stretching out the paper, Jareth found nothing written. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jareth saw a young detective walk into the bedroom.

"Sergeant, I am afraid we have not met," Jareth said.

The young detective almost rolled his eyes. "I know who you are and I would prefer it if you did not tamper with any of the evidence." 

Jareth put the soggy piece of paper into an evidence bag offered him by one of the police officers. "I phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?"

"He's busy with an old case with new evidence," the inspector said, "I'm in charge. And it's not Sergeant. It's Detective Inspector. Dimmock. I am the newest addition to the Odd Cases Division." 

Sarah looked up and passed the crystal to the D.I. Dimmock watched the dreams as he walked into the living room. "Girls. Money. China. Nothing very specific to work off of, now, is it. Besides, we're obviously looking at a suicide."

"It does seem to be the only explanation of the facts," Sarah said. 

_How can you so easily agree with this idiot?_ "How wrong you are. It is one of the possible explanation for some of the facts. You have a solution that you like but you are just choosing to ignore anything you see that does not comply with it."

Dimmock crossed his arms. "Like?"

"The wound is on the right side of his head," Jareth said.

"And?" Dimmock said.

"Oh, I know this!" Sarah said, "Van Coon was left-handed."

Jareth showed how shooting oneself in the right side of the head with the left hand was uncomfortable. "It requires a bit of contortion."

"Left-handed?" Dimmock said, obviously finding this hard to believe.

"Now, Jareth, let the kid find out for himself," Sarah said, "Dimmock, find the mugs in the kitchen."

Dimmock rolled his eyes but went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet but it was bowls. "Now check the left side," Sarah said.

Dimmock opened the mirror side cabinet and the mugs were there. "This is a left-handed kitchen. Most people are right handed, including yourself. The only reason I notice is because my Mother is left-handed and it was something she and dad would fight about all the time."

"Everyone organizes their kitchen differently," Dimmock said.

"All you would have to do is look around this flat, tea stains from the bottom of mugs, where he's been resting them on the arm of that chair. The left arm... Pad and paper on the left side of his phone, means he could hold it in his right hand and take messages with his left... All his expensive, favorite suits on the left side of his wardrobe, because he'd open the left-hand door... Do you wish me to continue?"

The inspector was fuming. "I think you have covered it, Jareth," Sarah said.

"I might as well go on. There are only two things left on the list," Jareth said, "The butter knife on the kitchen surface has butter on the right side of the blade because he used it with his left. Everything he did in his dreams he started off using his left hand, not his right. It is unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in the right side of the head. The conclusion? Someone broke in and murdered Mr. Van Coon. It is the only explanation of all of the facts."

"But the gun..." Dimmock said.

"He was waiting for the killer. He had been threatened," Jareth said.

"What?" Dimmock said.

"Today at the bank that he worked at. He received a warning," Sarah said.

"He fired when his attacker came in," Jareth said.

"And what about the bullet?" Dimmock said.

"It went out the window," Jareth said with a wave of his hand.

Jareth noticed the officers whispering as well as Dimmock noticing that he noticed.

"Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?" Dimmock said.

"Oh, don't take my word for it," Jareth said, "Wait for the pathologist's report. The bullet in his head was not fired from his gun, I guarantee it."

"But if his door was locked from the inside... how did the killer get in?" Dimmock asked.

Jareth adjusted his jacket and walked towards the door. "Good job, Detective Inspector. You are finally asking the right questions."

&%&%&%

Jareth and Sarah walked quickly over to the table Sebastian Wilkes was sitting at. Wilkes was sitting with several important people, having a jolly old time.

"The graffiti was a threat," Jareth said.

The table fell silent.

"I'm kind of in a meeting. Can you make an appointment with my secretary?" Sebastian said, his mouth half-full.

"I don't think this can wait, Mr. Wilkes. Sorry. One of your traders in your office was killed," Jareth said.

"What!" Sebastian said.

"Eddie Van Coon. The police are at his flat," Sarah said.

"Killed?" Sebastian asked.

Jareth poked the table's centerpiece. "Sorry to interfere with everyone's digestion. Do you still want me to make an appointment? Would maybe nine o'clock at Scotland Yard suit?"

&%&%&%

Sebastian splashed his face with water before staring in the mirror of the men's bathroom. Sarah and Jareth leaned against the counter on either side of the banker. "Harrow. Oxford. Very bright guy. Worked in Asia for a while so..."

"You gave him the Hong Kong accounts," Sarah said.

"Lost five mil in a single morning. Made it all back a week later. Had nerves of steel, Eddie did," Sebastian said.

"Who would want to kill him?" Sarah asked.

"We all makes enemies," Sebastian said, his eyes shifting their focus onto Jareth.

"You don't all end up with a bullet through your head," Sarah said.

Sebastian shrugged. "Not usually." A phone buzzed. Wilkes looked at the contents of the message and sighed. "My Chairman. The police have been on to him. Apparently they're telling him it was suicide."

"They've got it wrong. He was murdered, Mr. Wilkes," Jareth said.

"I'm afraid they don't see it that way. And neither does my boss, Sebastian said.

"Mr. Wilkes..."

"I hired you to do a job - don't get side-tracked Mr. King," Sebastian said. He left the two alone in the bathroom.

"My father was right," Sarah said, "Bankers are worse than lawyers."

"Well, your father is probably right, though I agree with the Bard that first thing we do is kill all the lawyers," Jareth said.

Sarah looked over at her flatmate. "Jareth, what are you planning to do now?"

"I am certainly not going to let the issue be," Jareth said, "A man has been murdered and we have to find out why."

Jareth pushed himself off from the bathroom counter and offered his arm to Sarah. She ignored it.

"Come on, Jareth, I have work in an hour at St. Bart's and I haven't even eaten lunch yet," Sarah said.

Jareth looked down at his arm as if a spider had landed on it. Not even when I am being a perfect gentlemen.

&%&%&%

The next day, Sarah came home after a long, unexplained absence. Jareth was sprawled on his armchair. He decided to mess with her. "I said could you pass me a pen?"

"What?" Sarah asked.

"A pen, I would like one. I have been waiting for a response for ages," Jareth said. Which was true. She did not respond to his text a few hours earlier.

"What do you really want, Jareth?" Sarah asked.

Jareth held up a newspaper. Sarah read over the headline quickly. "'The intruder who can walk through walls'," she said aloud.

"It happened last night. A journalist by the name of Brian Lukis was shot dead in his apartment. Door locked. Windows bolted from the inside. Exactly the same as Van Coon."

&%&%&%

With Sarah's help, Jareth was help to get five minutes in Brian Lukis' flat. As he looked around the flat, Jareth noticed a similarity. "This is the fourth floor. That's why they think they are safe. They put the chain on the door, bolt it shut. They think they are impregnable. A king in his mighty castle with an army at his command... They never imagine that a small force can destroy everything."

"What are you doing?" Dimmock asked.

"The killer can either fly or climb," Jareth said walking towards a skylight, "Most likely climb, seeing as I sense no magic in the area."

"What!" Dimmock exclaimed.

Jareth opened the skylight. "Both flats and the bank could only be accessed by a balcony or a window." Jareth let the window fall with a clang. He began examining the books on the journalist's desk. "We have to find out what connects these two men."

Sarah knelt to the floor and poked a black ball of paper on the floor. "It might have something to do with this," she said.

&%&%&%

The West Kensington Library revealed the next clue. Hidden behind several books on "Political Science- South East Asia" they found the same message as at the bank.

Currently, Jareth was sitting back at the flat letting himself work through the problem as he played a song called "Because I Love You" by Yiruma on the piano. Sarah was fixing the hem of one of Mrs. Hudson's skirts (as Mrs. Hudson was having more and more difficulties seeing small details, even with her reading glasses). A goblin popped into the room.

"Lord Jareth, a message," the goblin said.

Jareth turned around and took the dirty piece of paper in the goblin's hand. "Michigan, hardcore propellant. Zinc most likely. Keep the rest of the network looking for similar symbols."

"Yes, sir!" the goblin said with a salute before disappearing into thin air.

Jareth sat for a moment before moving swiftly to put on his coat. "Sarah, go to Dimmock and get ahold of the journalist's diary or something that will tell us his movements. I'll go and see Van Coon's PA. If we can retrace their steps, somewhere they are going to coincide."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jareth angsting... again. Seriously, that man loves a good sulk. 
> 
> The fact that the Odd Cases Division spells out O.C.D. was entirely an accident. A happy accident though.
> 
> Also, the facts on suicide that Jareth gave to Sarah are true as far as I know.


	4. Chapter III: Translation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

As she was walking down the street, glancing down at the diary, Sarah felt someone grab her shoulder. She went to hit the person when her wrists were grabbed. "It's all right," Jareth said, "It's just me."

"Bah. Jareth!" Sarah said, "Don't scare me like that."

Jareth had a look of absolute glee on his face. He let go of Sarah's wrists and almost jumped up and down as he explained what he found out. _Great. He's figured it out. I want to slap him so much... Maybe I can rain on his parade._

"Van Coon brought a package here the day he died. Whatever was hidden inside that suitcase. I've managed to piece together his movements using scraps of information..."

"Jareth..."

"... credit card bills and receipts. He flew back from China and came here."

"Jareth..."

"Somewhere in this street. Somewhere close. I don't know where."

Sarah pointed to the Lucky Cat. "That store, right over there, Jareth."

"How can you tell?" Jareth asked.

Sarah held up the diary. "Lukis was here. He wrote down the address."

"Oh..." Jareth said.

&%&%&%

"You want Lucky cat?" the shopkeeper asked Jareth.

"No thank you," Jareth said.

"Ten pound. Ten pound. I think your wife she will like," the shopkeeper said, nodding to Sarah.

"Did you hear that precious?" Jareth said, grinning, "She says you would like to own a lucky cat."

Sarah rolled her eyes and noticed a fake jade necklace with gold lettering on it that dangled off a long string.. "Isn't this pretty?" Sarah said mostly to herself.

"It says 'dream' in Chinese," Jareth said over her shoulder.

"You read Chinese?" Sarah asked.

"I can read and speak in just about any language 'dream', 'goblin', 'child', 'children', 'wish', and 'where is the loo?'," Jareth said, smirking at the last one.

Sarah smiled as well. Jareth took the necklace and examined it. "Look at the sticker," Jareth said.

"The symbol is exactly the same as the cypher," Sarah said.

Jareth went up to the store keeper and quickly bought the necklace. He just as quickly left the shop and Sarah followed. He examined the signs and the tags at the various shops on the street. He stopped suddenly and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"It's an ancient number system - Hang Zhou. These days only street traders use it," Jareth said, "I just have so much in my mind that I didn't come across it sooner. I need to start deleting things like Sherlock."

Sarah pulled Jareth over to a Chinese grocer that had both the Chinese number system and English number system. After a few moments, they found a match.

Sarah said, "It's a '15'. Look. Just here! What we thought was the artist's tag -it's a number '15'."

Jareth said, "And the blindfold. The horizontal line. It's a number as well. It's the Chinese number '1', Sarah!"

&%&%&%

"I am so hungry," Sarah said as she waited impatiently for her food to arrive.

"Focus on the case, not your stomach," Jareth said. He was holding the cheap necklace in his hand, switching his attention between it and the street.

Sarah rolled her eyes but played along. "Two men travel back from China. They both come straight to the Lucky Cat Emporium. What did they see?"

"It's not what they saw. It's what they brought with them in those suitcases," Jareth said.

"They were smugglers?" Sarah asked. Her bowl of noodles was placed before her and she ate eagerly.

Jareth held up the pendant next to Sarah's face. "It matches your eyes," he said, "Do you want it?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. Just a little trinket," Jareth said.

"It's not a Fae favor or something, is it?" Sarah asked.

Jareth shook his head. "No. That is when you give something that is dear to you to someone else. This is just something I saw a few minutes ago and thought you liked. There is no ulterior motive, Sarah."

Sarah took the necklace and slipped it over her head. "Thank you, Jareth."

Jareth blinked a few times before looking back to the street. "Van Coon would have been perfect as a smuggler. He was a businessman, taking regular trips to Asia. Lukis too was a journalist writing about China. A perfect alibi. They smuggled something out. The Lucky Cat was the drop off."

"Well then, why did they die? It doesn't make sense Jareth. If they both turned up at the shop and delivered the goods why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event? After they had finished the job? It's bad business."

Jareth for silent for a few minutes before he asked, "What if one of them was light-fingered?"

"What do you mean?"

"One of them stole something from what they brought back."

"The killer doesn't know which one of them took it so he threatens them both! Of course."

Jareth tilted his head slightly as he saw something across the street. "Remind me: when was the last time it rained?" He put some money on the table and walked out of the restaurant.

"Jareth! I'm not done eating! Wait up!"

&%&%&%

Jareth was examining the name on the door. "Soo Lin Yao," Jareth said, "She even drew a little flower on her bell tag. Someone who enjoys beautiful things and finds it in even the most unlikely of places." He held up the wet phone book. "What do you do when you find a phone book on your door?"

"I throw it out," Sarah said.

"Exactly," Jareth said. He rang the bell but nothing happened. "Ms. Yao has not been in since at least Monday."

Jareth darted down a side alley and Sarah followed. "Maybe they are on vacation. So what is the big deal?"

Jareth pointed to the apartment windows. "Do you leave you windows open when you go away?"

Jareth quickly climbed his way up the fire escape, leaving Sarah behind as she was too short to grab the moving ladder. "Jareth!" Sarah hissed as he climbed inside.

She threw her hands into the air and made her way back to the front of the building. She rang the bell again. When Jareth did not respond, she shouted through the letterbox. "You think maybe you could let me in this time?" 

No response. 

"Can you not keep doing this, please?"

"I'm not the first"! Jareth shouted.

"What?" Sarah shouted back.

"Someone else has been here. Someone broke into the flat."

Sarah stomped her feet to keep warm. "Any time you want to include me that would be great. I'm obviously wasting my breath. 'I'm Jareth and have phenomenal cosmic powers but an itty bitty living space. I always work alone because no one else can compete with my massive intellect'!"

A few moments later, Jareth opened the door. "The milk's out of date and the washing has started to smell. Someone left here in a hurry about three days ago." His voice was hoarse.

"Someone?" Sarah asked.

Jareth pointed to the name on the bell. "Soo Lin Yao. We need to find her."

_What happened to him? Is this some sort of goblin cold or something?_ "How do we find her?" Sarah asked.

Jareth bent down and picked up a note left on the doormat. "With this," Jareth said.

They began walking away. "What happened to your voice?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Jareth said.

Sarah paused as she noticed some bruising hidden partially by Jareth's green scarf. "Jareth, stop. Let me look at that."

"Sarah..."

"Jareth, stop acting like a lone ranger. I am your healer. I need to know what happened."

After a moment of thought, he responded. "In the cab. We need to leave this place and find Ms. Yao."

They quickly found a cab and head straight for the Antiquities Museum. "Jareth, take off your scarf."

The former Goblin King glared but did as he was told. The bruises looked like a rope had been used to try to choke Jareth. "There was someone in there!" Sarah exclaimed, quickly taking off her gloves so she could examine Jareth's bruises.

"Yes," Jareth said. He closed his eyes as Sarah gently touched where Jareth had been hurt. "Whoever sent him did not want me dead though. He could have finished me but he did not." Jareth took out of his pocket a black folded piece of paper made to look like a flower.

Sarah closed her eyes as she told Jareth a story. "When I was five years old, I was sitting at one of my mother's rehearsals. It was an outdoor stage. I was coloring in the fading light when I noticed a man sitting in the shadows. I asked him if he was waiting for someone and he said 'No. Just enjoying the little drama unfold. I do not particularly like this play though. Why would Prospero give up his magic? He has all that power and he throws it into the sea.' I told him 'Well, he doesn't need magic anymore. Miranda is safe and happy. Why does anything else matter? Well, that's what Daddy tells me.' The man chuckled. 'I suppose that your father is right.' Then the man told me to go back to coloring and ignore an old man's grumblings." Sarah let her hands rest on Jareth's neck for a moment longer than necessary, enjoying herself far more than she was willing to admit.

Jareth opened his eyes and rubbed his neck. "Do you remember who the man was?"

"No. I couldn't see his face and I don't even remember what he sounded like. I just remember thinking he looked lonely. He could have been a kidnapper or something. I was stupid as a kid. Stranger danger wasn't really drilled into me completely."

Jareth nodded. "I suppose so, Sarah. Why did you remember this encounter?"

Sarah shrugged. "Like I said, I just remember thinking he looked lonely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First order of business: Yes Jareth was the man (and this will come up later). Second order of business: No, he was not there to see Sarah (and it was not the first time he met her). Third order of business: Why yes, I did quote _Aladdin_.


	5. Chapter IV: Spot of Tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

His name was Andy Galbraith. He worked at the National Antiquities Museum. He was also desperately in love with Soo Lin Yao. Jareth recognized a fellow sufferer of unrequited love on sight. (Though he would deny such a recognition was based on his own unrequited love for a certain flatmate.)

"When was the last time you saw Ms. Yao?" Jareth asked.

"Three days ago. Here, at the museum. This morning - they told me she'd resigned. Just like that. Left her work unfinished," Andy said.

The consulting detective looked around the exhibit. His main focus was the tea pots Soo Lin was working on before she disappeared. The cups and pots were old and well used throughout the centuries. Sometimes, dreams lasted well-beyond the lifetime of the dreamer. These pots represented hundreds of years of dreams. Jareth did not have to come any closer than the glass barrier to sense the most recent dreamer. Soo Lin viewed these pots as her way to redemption, however small that help maybe. What she needed redemption for, the dreams did not say.

Jareth asked, "What was the last thing she did on her final afternoon here?"

Galbraith quickly led the duo to the store room. When he flipped on the light he spoke again. "She does this demonstration for the tourists - a tea ceremony. She'd have packed her things away and put them there."

Sarah went with Andy to investigate Soo Lin's storage space. Jareth was drawn to a statue partially obscured by shadow. The yellow paint, however, was bright and bore the cipher.

&%&%&%

Jareth quickly moved down the steps of the museum. "We have to get to Soo Lin Yao."

"If she is still alive," Sarah said, "That cipher means he is planning to kill her next."

"That is why I found him in her flat. He was waiting for her," Jareth said.

A goblin the size of Jareth's first popped into existence in front of Sarah. "Lord Jareth, we found those symbols."

"What are you doing out here Zinger? The cameras might see you. You look so cold," Sarah said. She quickly stuck the small goblin into her jacket and put her red and white striped hat onto the goblin's head.

Zinger pushed the hat up to look at Jareth. "You said it was important so I am going to show you where it is."

"Tell us where to go Zinger. Time is of the essence," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

"Well, this complicates things," Jareth said, examining the partially painted over symbol. "If you wanted to hide a tree then the best place to do it is a forest, wouldn't you say? People would just walk past it, not knowing - not able to decipher the message. They have been here. The exact same paint. Sarah, go up on to the railway line. Zinger, go inform the rest of the Goblin Network to look for that same color. If we're going to decipher this language we are going to need more evidence. Then, come back and watch over Sarah."

"Says the man who almost was choked to death earlier today," Sarah said.

&%&%&%

After about an hour of fruitless searching, Sarah came running up to Jareth along with half a dozen goblins. "We found it! Jareth! We found it!"

"Show me," Jareth said.

They ran over to where Sarah had found the symbols but there was nothing. Only a blank wall.

"But... I don't understand. It was here," Sarah said.

"Yes. It was here!" the goblins said.

Jareth touched the wall and found it wet. "It was here twenty minutes ago. A whole load of graffiti Jareth."

"Someone did not want me to see it," Jareth said.

"Good thing I got a pic then," Sarah said with a sigh.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "You got a picture?"

"Of course I did," Sarah said, "I might have gotten lost trying to find you again."

"You have a very good sense of direction, Sarah," Jareth said.

"Better safe than sorry," Sarah said.

"I could kiss you right now," Jareth said.

"Do that and you will receive a kick in the crystals from my goblin made boots."

&%&%&%

Jareth had spent the rest of the night trying to decipher the code. He was able to translate the numbers quickly but what they meant were beyond him. The pictures were pinned to the wall in an almost organized manner.

"They are always in pairs, Sarah."

He heard a mumbled response from the half-asleep human. Jareth continued. "Every number comes with a partner. Why paint it next to the tracks?"

"No idea," Sarah said, lightly smacking her face.

"Thousands of people pass by there every day... Of course! He wants information. He is contacting all his people in the underworld. Whatever was stolen he wants it back. And the answer is somewhere in this code." He ripped several pictures off the wall. "We cannot crack this without Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her."

&%&%&%

Sarah and Jareth were once again in the Antiquities Museum, speaking to Andy as they stood near the tea pots. "Two men died after visiting China. The killer left them messages written in the Hang Zhou numerals," Jareth said.

"Soo Lin Yao is in danger. That cipher was just the same pattern as the others. He wants to kill her," Sarah said.

"I've tried everywhere. Her friends; her colleagues. I don't know where she's gone. She could be a thousand miles away," Andy said.

"Where would she go if she was upset?" Jareth asked.

"What?" Andy asked.

"You obviously care about her and you have a vested interest in her well-being," Jareth said, "What does she do when she is upset? Does she listen to more music on her I-pod? Does she go to the park?"

"She doesn't like showing what she feels," Andy said, "However, I saw her get chewed out by our boss because she wasn't getting her work done as fast as they wanted. She spent extra time working on the tea pots. They were her obsession."

Jareth walked over to the pots and sensed there was a greater intensity from Soo Lin's dreams. "Tell me more about those tea pots," Jareth said.

"They need urgent work. If they dry out the clay can start to crumble. Apparently you have to keep making tea in them," Andy said.

"Last time we came here only one of those pots was shining. Now there are two," Jareth said.

"How?" Sarah said, "This is the British Museum. Surely someone would have noticed if Soo Lin was walking in and out of here every day."

"Maybe she never left," Jareth said.

&%&%&%

That night, several hours after the museum closed, Sarah and Jareth was sitting in opposite corners of the dark restoration room. A small, feminine figure made its way across the room with silent grace. By the limited light, the figure made a pot of tea. It was a slow, elegant procedure, though not clean cut. There were spills and purposeful wasting of tea.

Jareth decided to introduce himself. He walked over quietly until he was almost by her side. "Fancy a biscuit with it?"

The person turned quickly and dropped the pot in surprise. Jareth caught it. He grinned. "Centuries old. Don't want to break that."

Reaching under the table, Jareth flipped on the lights. Soo Lin looked at him in surprise, but not fear. "Hello."

"You are not human," Soo Lin stated.

Jareth placed the pot on the table. "Not exactly. You may know me better as a siaw gue, a goblin."

Soo Lin looked at him with wide eyes. "I remember the stories, as a little girl, that the goblins would take me away if I misbehaved."

Jareth smiled wide enough to show his pointed teeth. "Oh, we would have loved to take a pretty thing like you if you misbehaved."

He felt a familiar hand smack him across the back of the head. "Behave Jareth and don't scare the girl," Sarah said, "Hello, Ms. Yao. I am Sarah Williams. This is Jareth King. We are not here to harm you. I am a nurse and he is a detective. We've been looking for you so you can help us stop a killer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I speak absolutely no Chinese so I had to look the term for goblin online and that is not always reliable.
> 
> As you have probably guessed, Jareth believes that unrequited love (with enough perseverance) can become requited love. (He does admit that throwing a snake might not have been the best move.) He ships Andy/Soo Lin.
> 
> *spots a plot bunny* No! No! I am not writing a fan fic with Jareth as a matchmaker. *"Matchmaker" from _Fiddler on the Roof_ begins to play* Oh dear sweet Doyle! Somebody kill it! I can see him dancing around and everything! I give this plot bunny to you, my dear readers, to deal with until further notice. Otherwise, the bunny gets the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.


	6. Chapter V: Honor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

Soo Lin looked at Jareth warily. "What kind of... creature is he?"

"Jareth? He's a goblin... Fae... thing," Sarah said, "You've never really told me what you are."

"I am... many things," Jareth said, "I cannot harm you, Soo Lin, unless you attack Sarah. Otherwise, we are here to protect you."

Soo Lin nodded. "You saw the cipher? You know that he is coming for me."

"You've been clever. So far you have managed to avoid him," Jareth said.

"I had to finish. To finish this work. But it is only a matter of time. I know he will find me," Soo Lin said.

"Who is he? Have you met him before?" Jareth asked.

"When I was a girl, living back in China. I recognize his... 'signature'," Soo Lin said.

"The cipher?" Jareth asked.

"Only he would do this. Zhi Zhu," Soo Lin said.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"It means 'the spider'," Soo Lin said. She unlaced her shoe and showed the bottom of her heel. There was a small circular tattoo with a black lotus flower in the center. "You know this mark?"

"It's the mark of a Tong. An ancient crime syndicate. Based in China. This one in particular refers to the Black Lotus," Jareth said, "I ran into them a century or two ago when they were trafficking children and one of the smugglers made the unwise decision of wishing one of the children away."

"Century?" Soo Lin asked.

"He's old. Probably as old as some of those pots," Sarah said, "and if he could not pull off that hair so well, he would probably be in a museum too."

"Do not insult my hair. It naturally ends up this way," Jareth said.

"I was not insulting it. I said you pulled it off well. Anyone else would like a bird had attacked them and made a glitter infested nest," Sarah said, "But, we are getting distracted. What does the mark mean, Soo Lin?"

Soo Lin smiled slightly before remembering the point of the conversation. "Every foot soldier bears the mark... everyone who hauls for them."

"Hauls? Oh... you were a smuggler?" Sarah asked.

"I was fifteen, living back in China, in the Yellow Dragon City. My parents were dead. I had no livelihood. No way to survive day to day, except to work for the bosses," Soo Lin said.

"What is there business?" Jareth asked.

"They smuggle alcohol - cheap cigarettes. None thinks of searching the pockets of a school girl. By the time I was sixteen I was taking thousands of pounds worth of drugs across the border into Hong Kong. I'm not proud. I'm ashamed of how I lived. But I managed to get out. I managed to leave that life behind me. I came to England - studied; night school. They gave me a job here. Everything was good. A new life," Soo Lin said.

"And then he caught up with you," Jareth said with a sigh.

"Yes," Soo Lin said, "I hoped after five years... maybe they would have forgotten me. But they never really let you leave. A small community like ours - they are never very far away. He came to my flat three days ago. He asked me to help him - to track down something that was stolen," Soo Lin said.

"Do you have any idea what it was?" Sarah asked.

"I refused to help," Soo Lin said.

"So he sent you the cipher as punishment," Jareth said.

Soo Lin nodded. "He is ruthless. A fanatic. He would strike down anyone. Even family if they betrayed him."

"You knew him well back when you were living in China?" Sarah asked.

"Oh yes," Soo Lin said, "He is my brother."

"Wait... what?" Sarah said, "Your brother?"

Soo Lin nodded. "Our parents died in the demonstrations. 1989. I was four years old. Liang a little older. Two orphans. We had no choice. We could work for the Black Lotus or starve on the streets like beggars. My brother has become their puppet - in the power of the one they call Shan - Black Lotus General. I turned him away. He said I had betrayed him. Next day I came to work and the cipher was waiting."

Jareth took out several pictures with the ciphers. "Can you decipher this?"

"They're numbers," Soo Lin said.

"Yes. The first is a 'one' and the second is a 'fifteen'. What we need to know is what the code is," Jareth said.

Soo Lin tilted her head to the side. "All the smugglers know it. It's based upon a book..."

Suddenly, the lights all went out. "Hey, who turned out all the lights?" Sarah smacked Jareth. "Was that really necessary? What about gender equality and not allowing physical abuse into a relationship?"

"That was for making light of a dangerous situation," Sarah said.

"He's here. Zhi Zhu. He has found me," Soo Lin said.

Sarah pulled Soo Lin to the side of the room and put her under a table. "Jareth, this man means to kill Soo Lin. You may use magic."

Though Sarah could not see it, she knew Jareth was grinning. She could hear him move quickly outside the room. There was, however, no goblin chattering. 

Sarah had noticed in the month or so she had lived with Jareth that if he left her alone in a situation he deemed dangerous, goblins would appear. Why they did not appear now escaped her comprehension.

BANG! BANG!

"Of course he is getting shot at," Sarah muttered.

BOOM!

"What was that?" Soo Lin asked.

"That was Jareth," Sarah said, "He better not have destroyed anything. I mean... some of those things are older than Babel!"

BANG!

BOOM!

BANG!

Silence.

Soo Lin began to creep out. "Don't you dare," Sarah hissed.

"I know the code," Soo Lin said as she stood up straight by the table she was working at before. She pulled out a book from her pile of things and began to scribble notes.

Then a short figure stood by her. "Pin yin. Liang. Liang. Qing!" Soo Lin said.

Sarah began to move so she could stand behind the intruder. She quietly grabbed a thick textbook and was about to strike when the intruder turned around and punched her in the gut. She fell to the ground and cracked her head against the marble floor.

BANG!

Sarah's vision was spotty and her hearing was less than perfect from the gun shot. She was, however, certain a goblin was sitting on her chest. 

"Bad! Bad! Lady Sarah! Lady Sarah is hurt!" the goblins hissed.

A bright light blinded Sarah. "Apply pressure to that wound," Jareth said, "Soo Lin needs more help than Sarah right now."

Sarah felt leather stroke her face. "Precious, can you hear me?"

"Can you turn down the lights?" Sarah asked.

As the light became dimmer, she realized the light was a crystal and it was floating about three feet above her. Jareth was kneeling next to her, one hand was holding her wrist, the other was cradling her neck. "Did we get the Spider?"

"No, he ran off when he saw the goblins," Jareth said, "Sarah, can you sit up? Soo Lin is bleeding out fast and I have already exhausted my magic. An ambulance is on its way."

"Can you tell if my leg is moving?" Sarah asked.

"It is," Jareth said.

"Oh, I am going to regret this," Sarah said. 

Sarah sat up slowly and felt like her head was going to spin off her neck if it were not for the blinding pain in the back of her head nailing her skull to her spine. Jareth was supporting her neck and mid back as she sat up. She stopped for a moment, resting her head against Jareth's shoulder. "I doooon't think that walking is a goooood idea," she said.

Jareth carefully picked Sarah up and placed her next to Soo Lin. Her breathing was labored and her chest was not moving properly. Of course, there was a lot of blood as most gun shots do. 

"Jareth, we have to make sssssure she keep breathing or ellllllse allllll bets are off," Sarah said, "It looooooks like a lu... lung co... co... died. I don't know about the ressssst of the damage but I can't do anything about that with no... thingssss. Zinger, grab my messssssenger bag. There are gllllloves in there."

"Sarah," Jareth said quietly, "You are not sounding good."

"I've been... bader..." Sarah said, "So... girl needssss help."

Jareth tried to place his hand where Sarah was bleeding, but she slapped him away. "Can't... wake you up. Girl needssss... help."

Zinger brought over the gloves and Jareth helped Sarah put them on, since her movements were jerky. "Girl, do you know the story about... um... what'sss a goooooood s... story?"

&%&%&%

Sarah did not remember much over the next four hours. She knew that she was taken to the hospital and that a goblin guard was assigned to her. They were hiding in the shadows, sounding quite upset. Hoggle even showed up at one point when the nurses were not looking. Sarah knew they talked about something, but she could not say what it was (because her recollection was that it involved jelly beans and baked potatoes).

For some reason, Jareth was not there and that worried Sarah. He threw a temper tantrum when she sprained her wrist three cases ago. If she was hospitalized, she suspected that he would be terrorizing the nurses, not going off the radar. 

The first thing she remembered with real clarity was Inspector Dimmock visiting her. "I am to bring you back to 221b Baker Street," he said solemnly. 

Sarah was barely able to dress herself, so she was unsure why she was released. Dimmock drove her back home and she barely made it up the steps without Dimmock's help. Mrs. Hudson was fussing at the door of 221b. "Those goblins are back," she said, "They don't know how to clean up after themselves and sometimes I hear... clucking. Chickens clucking."

Sarah opened the door and saw what looked like a goblins' edition of Hoarders. There were boxes and boxes of books. Plates and cups were piled up everywhere. Goblins were chattering and running around the apartment with no apparent reason. Jareth sat in the middle of it on his chair, tossing books from boxes carelessly when they did not meet his approval and dropping the ones that seemed appropriate by his feet.

"Is that how you treat bloody evidence?" Dimmock asked.

"Do you ignore murder inquiries simply because the person telling you irritates you?" Jareth asked, "Soo Lin is only alive because of Sarah, not the imbeciles over at Scotland Yard."

"Where's Soo Lin?" Sarah asked. She looked around wearily trying to find a place to sit.

"She is currently in surgery and only alive because of you, my brave, stupid Sarah," Jareth said.

"I'm not stupid. You're... a meany head," Sarah said. She placed a hand on her forehead. "I think I'm sick."

"You have a concussion and were supposed to be under observation for at least twelve more hours," Dimmock said, "Someone, however, had to convince them otherwise."

"Oh, admit it, Dimmock, you like waving around your badge," Jareth said.

Dimmock held up his badge. "THIS is not a toy to be used by you for your own plans."

Jareth shrugged. "Sarah, do go to bed. I will make sure you do not slip into a coma."

"I don't want to sleep," Sarah said, "I need to... yell at you. You are being... a Goblin King, not Jareth. And if you say don't defy me I'll... do something. I'm going to bed, but not because you said so. Night night goblins."

"Night night Sarah!" the goblins said in chorus.

Sarah felt Jareth put his arm around her waist as she made her way to her bedroom. "You need to stop bothering Dimmock. He isn't being... I don't know. You're being mean. You've been... off since Slider's death."

Jareth helped Sarah into bed. He helped her take off her shoes and coat. "Will Soo Lin... be all right?" Sarah asked.

"I believe she will," Jareth said, "You helped keep her alive. That has to count for something."

Sarah nuzzled her face into her pillow. "I think you are just saying that because the Goblin King fell in love with the girl."

"Probably," Jareth said, "You are not very aware of what you are saying right now, are you?"

"I don't know," Sarah said.

Jareth stroked her hair, careful to avoid the bump on her head. "Do you want me to sing to you?"

"Forever," Sarah said as she drifted off to sleep.

"That's not long at all, precious," Jareth said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cough* Yeah. I messed with canon in a bigger way than usual. I guess this now falls under a "fix-it" fic now. There is a picture somewhere of the _Mystery Science 3000_ trio with a caption on the screen saying "I wanna decide who lives and who dies!" I decided to do so in Soo Lin's case. I can totally understand if this makes people upset. You may politely say so in the comments.
> 
> The quote "Who turned out all the lights?" is from an episode of _Doctor Who_ where darkness itself is the enemy basically devouring and controlling people like puppets... in a library. As a future librarian, this is TERRIFYING!
> 
> I should feel sorry for the clichés that are some of the quotes that I used. ("Don't defy me." "Forever. Not Long at all.") I kind of don't though.
> 
> Due to real life, I was not able to post yesterday. I will post three today.


	7. Chapter VI: Just Like a Circus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

"You stole my goblins," Rossetti said. She was sitting Jareth's chair after he had put Sarah to bed.

"I merely requested their presence," Jareth said.

"Which you cannot do," Rossetti said, "Jareth you are not the Goblin King."

"I do not need a reminder. Can you get out of my chair? I am busy solving a case," Jareth said.

Rossetti raised a slanted eyebrow. "You are matching up a bunch of books to find a book code. I believe the term is 'whoopie-de-do' kinsman."

Jareth crossed his arms. "What is wrong, Christiana? You only call me kinsman if you are dealing with the Courts."

Rossetti shrugged. "It is nothing important. Just some mutterings from some old busybodies who cannot leave well enough alone."

"What else, Christiana? Come now, I have known you since you were a few hours old," Jareth said.

Rossetti waved her hand. "The Courts will not allow me to defend my subjects from the Gremlin Kingdom." 

"They are dismissing Slider's death?"

Christiana nodded. "There is talk that the Gremlin King is going to declare war on you as well. However, I received this news from extremely unreliable sources."

"What is his problem with me? I do not recall ever displeasing him," Jareth said.

"I have no idea. There is a new Gremlin King but he has not shown his face to any Court."

Jareth sat down at the dining room table and continued his work. "Jareth, you cannot just ignore this."

"I have a more prominent threat to deal with, Christiana."

"... Do not keep Sarah out of this. She may be of service to you when dealing with the gremlins. She does a good job with the goblins. At the least, she will be a moral support."

Jareth did not respond.

"I will tell you only once more. You cannot use my goblins, Jareth, beyond asking them what they know. I hope that Sarah heals quickly." With that, the Goblin King was gone along with her goblin court.

&%&%&%

Jareth woke up Sarah more often than was necessary for a concussed person. By the time Sarah's alarm went off, she had very little sleep and was annoyed with Jareth's babying. He barely noticed this, absorbed with his puzzle.

"The thing about a book code is that it has to be a book that all of the gang members own. And one that they all have access to..." Jareth said.

"How can you think this early in the morning?" Sarah asked, "Oh, wait, you didn't get smacked in the head last night."

"I had to wake you up, Sarah."

"Every four hours! Not every forty minutes!"

"It was every hour," Jareth said.

Sarah made a noise of disgust and stormed out of the apartment.

&%&%&%

Jareth spent the next several hours going through his contacts finding out various possibilities for where the Black Lotus was hiding. A Chinese circus in for one night only seemed the best option. He needed to find Zhi Zhu and the book, but both eluded him.

Sarah had been back for about an hour when Jareth spoke to her. "I need to get some air. We are going out tonight."

"Sorry, I'm busy," Sarah said.

Jareth paused. Sarah was looking more like a grown-up than usual and she was primping her hair in the mirror.

"With what?" Jareth said slowly.

"I'm going out."

"Where?"

"The movies."

"With whom?"

"A boy."

_... I am going to kill him. I am going to get that cretin who thinks he can even look at my Sarah, let alone request a night of her company._

"...and this boy is...?"

"Someone I know. I will be back before four."

_I am going to kill him before the night is out._

"Why so late?"

"It doesn't really matter to you, does it?"

Jareth resisted several villainous and cliché lines to use. Instead, he plotted. "You know, the cinema is rather a dull choice. Why not try this?"

Sarah took the piece of poster that Jareth gave her. "The circus?"

"In London for one night only," Jareth said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I really don't need any advice."

"Of course you don't. I was merely widening your possibilities, nothing more."

"Uh-huh. How's the case going?"

"Soo Lin is in a coma and all of her books were stolen."

"Well, that is unhelpful."

"Indeed, it is. Off with you before you are late."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Are you ill?"

"I am quite healthy, Sarah."

"You had better not pull anything."

"I have no intentions of pulling anything."

_Punching, maybe._

&%&%&%

Jareth leaned against the wall just inside the stairwell which gave him a slight view of the box office. A half hour before the show, Sarah appeared. The detective moved quietly down the steps to get a better view of her escort.

"Four tickets under the name 'Williams, Sarah'."

_Four? Is it a double date or something of that sort?_

"We generally do not allow children into these shows," the cashier said.

_Children? Is Sarah dating someone with children?_

"They are quiet and well-behaved," Sarah said, "They can sit through a complete running of Les Mis on Broadway. They'll be fine."

Jareth made his way further down the stairs. There were two seven year old girls, one blonde, the other brunette as well as a teenage boy with blonde hair. 

_What in the world is going on? Just walk up and get your ticket like it is pure coincidence. Yeah. Like that will work on Sarah._

Lacking a better plan, Jareth came up to the ticket counter and said, "One ticket for 'King, Jareth'."

"Jareth..." Sarah growled. 

"Oh, hello Sarah," Jareth said, putting on his best smile.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah said.

"It doesn't really matter to you, does it?" Jareth quoted.

"Hey Jareth," the blonde teenager said. He looked like a punk wannabe. His bangs covered one eye completely, causing Jareth to wonder how in the world the teenager was able to see.

Jareth tilted his head and smiled as he recognized the child. "Oh, it's you Toby."

"Yeah, it's been, what, thirteen years?" Toby said, "Your hair hasn't changed."

"I am surprised you even remember me," Jareth said.

"Well, I did grow up with goblins as roommates. Plus, Sarah has always told me the stories," Toby said.

"Really?" Jareth said, surprised that Sarah would be willing to admit her moment of weakness to Toby.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't she?" Toby said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And who are these young ladies?" Jareth asked.

"My baby sisters," Toby said.

"I'm Sophie," the brunette said.

"And I'm Emily," the blonde said.

Jareth felt Sarah grab his arm. "I need to talk to you, Jareth." He nearly doubled over by the wave of fear coming from Sarah. _What's wrong? Is there a crazed gunman behind me? It's been several weeks since Sarah's emotions have gotten so out of control. Not since Slider died._

"Of course, precious," Jareth said.

Sarah gave "the look" to Toby. "Stay with the twins."

Toby waved Sarah off. "We'll be fine."

Sarah dragged Jareth to the stairwell. "What are you doing here Jareth?"

He began to answer half the truth. "The Yellow Dragon Circus are in London for one day. It fits. The Tong sent an assassin to England..."

"Then why send my 'date' and I into the fray?" Sarah asked.

Jareth resisted the urge to punch the wall. Instead, he said through gritted teeth, "I wanted to show up whoever was with you."

"Jareth, I am a grown woman and I am your flatmate. Beyond a general care that I am not dating a serial killer, this crosses into the stalking territory that we discussed in-depth before I signed the lease."

Jareth clenched his fist. "Why didn't you tell me that your family was in London? Or that you had more siblings?"

"Because I don't have to tell you."

"Sarah..."

"Jareth, the rules of the Fair Folk may be different than humans and there is some higher reasoning for it but... you stole my brother in human terms. I know you can't steal him anymore but... you can steal Emily and Sophie. I can't... I don't want to have even the possibility of losing them."

"I cannot steal them and I will not. I will get Rossetti here myself and have her explain the Laws of the Labyrinth and the Goblin Kingdom. All three thousand and forty-seven pages of it. If that does not satisfy you, I can her explain the 547,374 pages of Fair Folk Law."

"She could lie for you."

"No. She is a kinsman of the Fae. We cannot lie."

Sarah laughed. "Yeah, because saying you were a cop to that Californian wasn't lying."

"I said it was police business, which it was," Jareth said.

"So you can't lie?"

"I am not capable of lying outright, no. I can still speak falsehoods if I believe them to be true. I can say things one way and make you think another. I can also tell stories, such as the plot to the latest _Doctor Who_ episode. (Don't lie. I know you watch that show all the time whenever you think I will not notice.) Sarcasm, however, is a self-dense mechanism."

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't think you will steal them since it will make me come after you and we know how well that worked out last time. Can you promise me that they will be safe from being stolen by the Fae?"

"I will speak with Rossetti about it," Jareth said, "I have no sway in the Courts anymore. I will do what I can."

Jareth feels someone tug at his sleeve. He looks down and saw the blonde girl, Emily. "Hey, are you going to see the circus with us?"

"Yes," Jareth said.

"Good," Emily said, beaming.

The other girl, Sophie, was hiding behind her sister, but seemed pleased as well. Toby ruffled his younger sisters' hair. "Stop bugging the poor guy. His hair might fall out like Dad's is if you keep it up"

The twins stuck their tongue out at their brother and giggled as only little girls can. "Kids, we're leaving," Sarah said.

"But why?" the four said. 

"Jareth you're not a chil... never mind," Sarah said.

Jareth grinned slightly. "The Tong already know who we are and where we live."

"WHAT!?!"

"Calm down Sarah," Jareth said, "If they wanted us dead, they would have done it ages ago. I am merely checking the scene."

"'The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It's the last thing he'll expect,'" Toby said.

Sarah's eye twitched. "You don't even know what is going on you little punk."

Toby grinned. "Ah, well, I'm not too worried. We have a former goblin king, a wished away, and a Labyrinth champion. We should win by sheer awesomeness alone."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "I see you have kept Toby well-informed."

"Why wouldn't I?" Sarah asked.

Jareth shrugged. "I must agree with young Toby with this. Besides, they will not suspect anything if we are with children."

Sarah made a choking motion towards Jareth but stopped suddenly. "Where are the girls?"

Jareth saw out of the corner of his eye the two girls running up the stairs to where the circus was taking place. "I think your sisters have made your decision for you."

Sarah smacked her head against the wall before running after her sisters. Jareth followed her. _This is not going to end well._

&%&%&%

Jareth made sure they were leaning against a wall with two exits nearby. The room was mostly empty. Almost everyone who was there was middle aged and well dressed. They stuck out more than Jareth would wish, but there was nothing to do. Even without his persuasion, the twins refused to leave and Toby was helping them. Before Jareth and Sarah could do anything, the lights went down.

"Why aren't there elephants?" Sophie asked.

"Or lions?" Emily asked.

"It's not that type of circus," Jareth said.

"This is going to be boring," Emily said.

"Then we can go back to the hotel," Sarah said.

"But it's boring there too," Emily said.

"I would much prefer you to be bored at the hotel," Sarah said.

"But you asked us to go to the circus," Toby said.

"Well, some things were different then," Sarah said.

They were shushed by a nearby audience member. 

Sarah paid little attention to the show but she did watch the audience as well as her siblings. The younger children were very much entranced by the show. Toby was more enthusiastic about it then he probably wish. Jareth snuck off backstage fairly quickly after the show began. 

The detective was not expecting any of this to happen. He would have sent them all home if the twins were not as stubborn as Sarah. The fact that Sarah had hidden their existence worried him. _Was she worried that I would take them? Why would I take them? I have no business in the retrieval of the wished away. Oh, hello. Spray paint. Let's test this... good. Yes. Wait... did that mannequin just move?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, dear readers, the Blonde Babe is Toby. Did you really think I would Jareth through the torture of seeing Sarah on the arm of another man. He. He he. Yes, I would. "BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!" I got an LOTR quote in this story so I am a content little fan girl.


	8. Chapter VII: Babysitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

_I really should not find glitter this reassuring._ Sarah thought as she watched the ring leader announce the acrobatic act. Toby poked his older sister in the ribs.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Jareth is gone," Toby said.

"He needs to take a long walk off a short cliff," Sarah muttered, "If I tell you to run, you get the girls and run, got that?"

"Chill, Sarah," Toby said.

"He is such a, that was cool, such a selfish jerk," Sarah said.

Toby shrugged. "He didn't know we would be here."

"He knew I was going to be here with someone important and he just decided to ruin it for me," Sarah muttered.

"I'm trying to watch the show," Emily said.

"Sorry," Sarah said.

Jareth and a Chinese warrior crashed through the curtains a moment later. "For the love of... Toby, run!"

Sarah ran towards Jareth. She grabbed a candle and threw it at the warrior's head. She barely jumped back in time to avoid the warrior's punch. Jareth came behind and kicked his leg to try to knock the warrior off his feet. The warrior jumped over Jareth's leg. As the warrior focused his attention on Jareth, Toby came up from behind and hit the warrior over the head with a wooden plank, knocking him out.

"Toby! I told you to run!" Sarah said.

Jareth took off the warrior's shoe and saw the black lotus tattoo. He threw the shoe in frustration. 

"Yeah, well, neither of you were doing particularly well," Toby said.

Jareth stood up and shooed Sarah and Toby towards the twins. "Toby, though I admire your bravery, you should have stayed with your sisters. Quickly, we need to leave this place." Jareth picked up Sophie and Sarah picked up Emily.

&%&%&%

The Williams and Jareth were in Scotland Yard. The twins were coloring in a meeting room. Sarah, Toby, and Jareth were bugging Dimmock.

"I sent a couple of cars. The old music hall is totally deserted," Dimmock said.

"I saw the mark at the theater. The tattoo we saw on the bodies is the mark of the Tong," Jareth said.

"They were part of a smuggling operation. One of them stole something when he was in China. Something valuable," Sarah said.

"These circus performers were gang members, sent here to get it back," Jareth said.

"Get what back?" Dimmock asked.

"We don't know that," Sarah said.

"You don't know?" Dimmock said. He shook his head an sighed. "Mr. King - I've done everything you asked. Lestrade - he seems to think your advice is worth something... I gave the order for a raid. Please tell me I'll have something to show for it. Other than a massive bill for overtime."

"Seriously, two murders, an attempted murder, and a smuggling ring and that's nothing?" Toby said.

"And who are you?" Dimmock asked.

"Toby Williams."

"Well, Mr. Williams, you are not involved in this case. The lot of you, go home. You have some stolen babies to put to bed, don't you?" Dimmock said the last sentence with particular malice.

Before Jareth could respond, Sarah said, "They are my younger sisters and I am babysitting tonight. Believe me, accidentally taking them to a smuggling ring is not the worse job I have done at babysitting."

Toby and Jareth snickered.

"It's not funny!" Sarah said. She paused and said, "Okay, it is a little."

&%&%&%

Sophie and Emily sat on the floor in 221b Baker Street and Toby lounged on Jareth's chair. _Good grief. They have known each other for what, fifteen hours and Toby already acts like him._ "Listen, Mom and Dad won't be back until around midnight. You are going to stay here and behave while Jareth works. I'll try to find you something to eat, all right?"

The twins nodded. "We're bored. Can we watch TV?"

"What time is it?" Sarah asked.

"9:30," Toby shed.

"Post watershed. Movies. Must find movies," Sarah muttered. She started searching through the boxes of books for her DVD/VHS collection.

As Sarah was going through a tunnel made of books and boxes, she could faintly hear conversation. "What are you doing?" Emily asked.

"I am solving a puzzle," Jareth said.

"Is that a doctor's handwriting? It's really bad," Emily said.

"It's Chinese," Jareth said.

"Huh. Well, that's why I can't read it," Emily said.

"Why don't you just have someone translate it?" Sophie asked.

"I already have, but there is a code," Jareth said.

"OOOOOOOOOOH," the twins said.

"I can't work like this," Jareth said, "Do you girls mind if I play some music on the piano? It helps me think."

"Can you play some movie songs?" Emily asked, "The stuff Mom and Dad play is boring."

Sarah could almost hear Sophie nodding enthusiastically.

"Very well. I will see what I have," Jareth said.

Sarah found her movie collection piled into a pyramid. How bored were those goblins? As she sorted through the movies the girls might like, she could hear Jareth shuffling papers and the girls rocking back and forth on their feet. Toby snored.

"I do not appear to have much 'movie' music," Jareth said, "How about this?"

"Fur Elise" began to play, but then Jareth started singing. "Here's a short Beethoven piano piece/He wrote this piece just for Elise/It's all about a fellow named Maurice/Who came from Greece with a valise/Maurice loved Beethoven's piano piece/He loved this piece more than Elise/And nobody could keep it from Maurice/He fleeced Elise and took her piece/He did her wrong he took her song/It's all he cared for all along/And when Elise saw that Maurice /Had fleeced her piece she called the police/They found the piece in the valise/They all went to the Justice of the Peace/Who sent Maurice right back to Greece/It was all right to her delight/Elise can play her piece all night/And if you hear Beethoven's piece /Played by your nephew or your niece/Nephew or niece perform this piece/Please tell them to remember that this piece/This little piece is for Elise."

The girls giggled throughout the song and clapped when it ended. Sarah had several movie choices picked out by then. She was about to figure her way out when part of the tunnel of books fell on her. "Sarah! Blast it all!" Jareth said.

"I'm fine. I just can't move," Sarah said. She felt Jareth tossing the books aside and could hear her siblings chattering.

Quickly, the books were gone. Jareth pulled her up and lifted Sarah over wall of books. "Are you all right, precious?" 

Jareth was holding Sarah by her shoulders. His thumbs stroked her arms. There was a look of deep concern in his eyes. "I'm fine, Jareth. And stop calling me precious. I am not a Ring of Power."

Toby laughed. The twins were confused. Jareth rolled his eyes and ruffled Sarah's hair. "You should not scare an old man like that, Sarah."

Sarah bent over the wall of books and grabbed the movies she had chosen. "Let's see we have _Muppet Treasure Island, Star Wars, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Mulan, Arthur and the Invisibles,_ and _The Rocketeer_ ."

" _Mulan_ !" the twins said together.

"We did go to a Chinese circus after all," Emily said.

Sarah smacked her head with the VHS of the movie in question. She had not even realizes why she had chosen the film until Emily pointed it out. "Freudian slip," Sarah said, "It's not even an accurate representation of Chinese culture. It's just whatever Disney wanted." 

After stern words with the VCR, the twins were amused by one of their favorite movies. Toby was half asleep on the couch again. Jareth was back to solving the puzzle. After the first song Sophie said, "Can we have some food?

Sarah felt the need to slap her head again. She had forgotten about the twins being hungry. As she rummaged through the kitchen looking for something for the twins (the pickiest eaters she had ever seen), Mrs. Hudson came up the stairs and placed a platter with cookies and juice on the kitchen counter. 

"I heard the lot of you upstairs. I thought you might like some nibbles," Mrs. Hudson said.

Sarah hugged her landlady. "You are a saint."

"If it was Monday I'd have been to the supermarket," Mrs. Hudson said.

"Hello Mrs. Hudson," Toby said, "I'm Toby. It's nice to finally meet you. Sarah raves about."

"And Sarah just adores you and your sisters," Mrs. Hudson said.

"Wait! Mrs. Hudson knows about the twins and I don't?" Jareth said indignantly.

"Of course Jareth," Mrs. Hudson said, bringing in the tray of goodies, "You can't expect a girl to trust a man who kidnapped her brother to start telling you everything after a month."

"I did not kidnap Toby. I merely retrieved him," Jareth said.

Sarah looked towards heaven and prayed for the all mighty smiter to smite Jareth or at least his stubbornness. Mrs. Hudson spoke as she handed cups of juice. "Hello, children. Now, you're Sophie and Emily, right? Oh what adorable little duckies you are."

"Hello, Mrs. Hudson," the twins said together. _Little brats are trying to butter her up with the whole "twins in sync" thing._

"And young Toby. You are going to be a handsome young man, aren't you? Breaking the girls' hearts already?" Mrs. Hudson said.

Toby smirked. "Oh, of course."

"Jareth's bad habits are already rubbing off on you," Sarah said.

"I am a perfect gentle..." Jareth stopped mid-word. "A lie. Damn."

The twins giggled. "Jareth said a bad word."

"Yeah, Jareth said a bad word," Toby mocked.

Sarah smacked the back of her brother's head. "Behave Toby. There is power in words."

"So, is that why you cuss like a sailor?" Toby asked.

Jareth smirked. "She does like to swear when she thinks no one can hear her."

Mrs. Hudson laughed politely. "It's off to bed for me. I am far too old for this." Mrs. Hudson left quickly after that.

The girls seemed amused by their movie and satisfied by the food. Toby was busy playing with a brain teaser puzzle that looked like a Rubik Cube had been hit with gamma radiation. In the dim light of the living room, Sarah watched Jareth as he switched attention from the puzzle to the children to Sarah to the puzzle again. What surprised Sarah was that Jareth seemed to have no ill will to any of them.

_Didn't he say once that he could have had his revenge ages ago? Didn't Lestrade say that Jareth refused to break Fairy law?_

_Doesn't he want to make me happy?_

That last thought sent a shiver down Sarah's spine. She knew that Jareth was protective of her and cared for her but she refused to dwell on why those feelings existed. He would not lay a hand on her and he, generally, left her alone.

_But, what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers._

Sarah caught Jareth looking at her again, that strange look that she first saw when he had stopped torturing the cabbie.

_Oh no. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP!_

"I think I am going to get more food," Sarah said, her heart racing.

"Sarah, it's far too..."

"Jareth, I need some air or I am going to go crazy. If someone tries to come after me, some goblins will show up. I think I saw some on the way in anyway," Sarah said.

Jareth nodded. Sarah quickly grabbed Toby's red and white stripped hat and her oversized coat. "Don't wait up!"

Sarah ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is from _Beethoven's Wig_ which takes classical music pieces and adds lyrics to help children like classical music. It is very silly and you will never be able to listen to those pieces ever again without thinking of the lyrics.
> 
> I _REALLY_ wanted Jareth to play _Pretty, Pretty Princess_ but I could not think of a legitimate reason why Sarah would have that game when she had given away all her "childhood" things that did not deal with the Labyrinth. 
> 
> I got the idea that Sarah still keeps her VHS collection from GND. As for the movies: _Muppet Treasure Island_ (a nod to Jim Henson, though he didn't make that one; it's my favorite Muppet movie), _Star Wars_ (George Lucas), _Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz_ (all inspirations for Labyrinth), _Mulan_ (explained in story), _Arthur and the Invisibles_ (David Bowie did a voice for the movie), and _The Rocketeer_ (my first Jennifer Connley movie).


	9. Chapter VIII: The Goblin Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

Jareth considered running after Sarah, but then realized what she had done. _She considers me worthy enough to protect her siblings._ He felt an unusual warmth steal across what he assumed was his heart region (though he had been reliably informed that he had none).

After a few minutes in reveling in the fact that Sarah trusted him, he realized that Sophie and Emily had fallen asleep on the floor while watching the movie. Quietly he picked up Emily and placed her in Sarah's bed. Then he came back for Sophie. She woke up slightly as she was being carried.

"Where's Emmie?" Sophie asked.

"Asleep in Sarah's room which is where you are going as well. You have had an interesting day," Jareth said.

"Are you going to catch the bad guys?" Sophie asked.

"Of course," Jareth said.

"It's a good thing you have the first two words figured out," Sophie said as she was laid on Sarah's bed.

"What are you talking about?" Jareth asked.

Sophie didn't respond, back asleep already.

Jareth came into the living room and was ready to examine the papers again when he saw how arrogantly Toby was sitting in his chair. "Toby."

"Jareth."

There was silence for a few moments.

"What are you planning on doing to my sister?"

Jareth stalked across the room and went to work on his puzzle. "Nothing truly evil." _Delightful. Wicked. Almost sinful. Not truly evil though._

"And somehow you are included in these plans?"

"Hopefully." Jareth noticed how Toby lazed about much like Jareth did when he was plotting.

"Is the story true?" Toby asked.

"What story?" Jareth asked.

"The play about the Labyrinth."

"It is a combination of many stories," Jareth said, turning to face Toby, "However, it is overall true."

"So where does the line about the goblin king being in love with the girl come from?" Toby was glaring as much as a teenager with a ridiculous haircut could.

"My predecessor," Jareth said. _And it also applies to me, but that line was written over a hundred years before Sarah was born. A rather awkward coincidence._

"You were not always the Goblin King?" Toby asked.

"No. I was once a goblin prince, just as you were for about ten or so hours," Jareth said.

Toby raised an eyebrow. "So, you were going to name me after you and all that?"

"Yes," Jareth said, "How do you know that?"

"Goblins don't understand what a secret is," Toby said, "Is that why you took me? To be your heir?"

"No. You were a wished away. I became fond of you during our time together. You did act as a normal child, but you had a certain glee in mischief that reminded me a bit of myself, selfish bastard that I am." Jareth took the odd looking Rubik cube from Toby and began solving it. He was getting nowhere with the code. He might as well have some small victory.

"So, did you know about us before I was wished away?"

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"A long time."

"So you were stalking Sarah! You bastard!"

"I checked on her from time to time. I had wards around her and your family. Believe me, there are those who would harm your sister simply because I met her in passing once, long ago."

"What the heck are you talking about."

Jareth shrugged. "You do not need the details but it is safe to say that your sister and I had a brief conversation when she was small and other parties decide it would be fun to harm her. I made sure it did not happen. I considered her as one of my goblins until she could no longer become one. There was nothing foul in my desire to keep her safe."

Toby was silent for awhile. "You know, Sarah won't tell me what you said in the Escher room. She just said that she said her lines and you tried to stop her. Everything else she told me word for word but not that."

Jareth looked up in surprise. "Really? Now why is that?"

"I don't know. Did you hurt her? Cause, if you did, I have no problem with hurting you, even if you can throw me across the room with your magic."

"I never laid a hand on her in the Escher room. I asked something of her and she said no."

"And that was?"

"If Sarah says that it is not of your concern, then I shall not say. I have no desire to tell you either."

Toby groaned. "Both of you are useless."

Jareth held up the completed puzzle and tossed it to Toby. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"School break and we're skipping a couple of days. Dad had to do something with his business over here and decided to make it a vacation when he was done working."

"How are your studies?"

"Boring. I want to go out and do something instead of learning about what character traits Odysseus had. He was a jerk. A clever jerk, admittedly, but a jerk all the same."

"Hmmm... well that might explain why I like him." Jareth smirked. 

"Are you blackmailing my sister in staying here?"

"Oh no. The only blackmail I have is so that she does not blackmail me."

"Willing to share?"

"Oh no. You probably have some truly horrible things on your sister. Mine is nothing truly terrible Just enough that we feel as equals."

Toby gave what could only be called a goblin grin and Jareth returned it in kind. "Jareth, it involves dancing and boy bands and wigs."

Jareth was about to respond when he felt something cause the wards of the house to go off. Only he could hear them, but someone with ill intent was at the door. The doorbell rang.

"Toby, go to your sisters."

"What? Why?"

"Don't argue. Just get in and keep quiet. Only Mrs. Hudson and Sarah can find you."

"Is it those smugglers?"

"Most likely. Or a dragon. You never know."

Jareth shoved Toby into Sarah's bedroom. "Lock it from the inside. Keep everything as quiet as you can. Do not come out until Sarah or Mrs. Hudson fetches you."

Toby nodded then shut and locked the door.

Jareth sensed that whoever was at the door was willing to harm Toby, thus allowing him to use magic. He created a crystal and had it smash against the door. It disappeared and all sound was muffled, but not completely muted. It was the best he could do with his natural magic.

With care, Jareth put on his coat and the green scarf that reminded him of Sarah's eyes. The doorbell rang again. Jareth went to turn off the light in the hallway by the bedrooms, hoping that it would not allow the intruders the idea that someone besides Jareth was up here. As he passed the table covered with his puzzle, Jareth saw that there were words written on the picture Soo Lin had been trying to translate. Jareth quickly stuck the picture inside the stack of music on top of his piano. He ran to where Sarah's door was.

"Toby, tell Sarah _Casablanca_. Stay quiet until she comes."

There was a muffled "okay" through the door. Jareth moved quickly downstairs, hoping the invaders would not break down the door.

Jareth opened the door and smiled at what he assumed was the Spider. "Do you have the treasure?" the man asked.

"No. I am not even sure what it is," Jareth said.

The Spider hit Jareth with a revolver, knocking the former goblin king out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I do enjoy giving my characters concussions. No, I do not know why.
> 
> I have never solved a Rubik cube but I have friends who can do it blindfolded and work on the larger ones as something to do with their hands when they are bored. (There is some sort of mathematical equation involved that I cannot even begin to understand.) Look up on Amazon brain teaser puzzles and let your mind melt at the horrible creatures there. 
> 
> Head canon for this series: Toby and Jareth are both fascinated by puzzles and think three dimensionally. Sarah is better at word and logic puzzles. Jareth can beat both of them simply because he is about three hundred years older than them. If given the same amount of time, Sarah would run circles around Jareth in riddles, Toby could beat him in math logic, but Jareth could whip both of them at chess (unless they teamed up together and then he would be doomed).


	10. Chapter IX: We Could Be Heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

Sarah returned to the flat with two pizzas, her mind still reeling from how stupid she was. _Of course he was in love with me. He was proposing to me in the Escher room. It was a stupid proposal, but he wanted me. I knew he was doing something that I wasn't supposed to tell, but still... why? And why would he still want me after I rejected him so thoroughly?_

Her train of thought was stopped by the cracked door. She dropped the pizza boxes and ran up the stairs. "Toby! Jareth!"

The horrible yellow symbols were spray painted on the windows. Jareth's work station had been upturned. "Sophie! Emily!"

Sarah looked in Jareth's room and the bathroom before entering her bedroom. She was tackled to the ground by her siblings.

"Oh God, Sarah, we were so worried," Toby said.

"What happened?" Sarah asked.

"The bad guys took Jareth," Emily said.

"They came upstairs but Jareth's spell protected us from being seen or heard," Toby said. He helped Sarah up. "Jareth said I needed to tell you 'Casablanca' but I don't know what that means."

Sarah paused for a moment and then laughed. "Of course he would. Toby, I need you to call someone in my phone book. Detective Inspector Lestrade. It's under Lestrade. Tell him that Jareth has gotten himself into a mess and that he needs to come to 221b immediately. Oh no, Mrs. Hudson. Stay here."

Mrs. Hudson was sound asleep after her "herbal soothers". Nothing had been disturbed. When Sarah returned and turned on the light, she found Sophie crying on the couch.

"Oh no, Sophie," Sarah said. She cradled her sister in her arms. "My little Sophie. Shush. If you stop crying, I can try to figure out where they took Jareth, all right?"

"Promise? He was protecting us," Sophie said.

"I promise," Sarah said. 

She had Toby take over comforting Sophie and the shocked Emily. Sarah went over to the piano and searched through Jareth's pile of music until she found the picture. "Well, that's helpful," Sarah said dryly.

"The words don't help?" Sophie asked.

"What words?" Sarah asked. 

Sophie pointed to the picture in Sarah's hand. After a quick look, Sarah saw that there was handwriting not belonging to Jareth that said "Nine" and "Mill". "Soo Lin you brave, stupid girl," Sarah said.

With wild abandonment, Sarah began going through the books in flat, only taking enough care not to hit her siblings. Toby joined her. "What are you looking for?"

"A book that everyone would own," Sarah said.

"How did you know where to find whatever got you all excited?" Toby asked, tossing a dictionary towards Sarah.

"In the movie _Casablanca_ , the papers that everyone is looking for is hidden in piano music," Sarah said, "It's one of the few films Jareth has seen. We watched it last week while we were at a stakeout."

They went like this for thirty minutes until Lestrade came up the stairs. "This had better be good. I just got off a forty-eight hour stakeout that involved taking down a mob boss, Russian gangsters, and a cross-dressing Ukrainian prostitute."

"Jareth has been kidnapped by smugglers and we need to find a book that everyone owns so we can find him so he doesn't get whacked," Sarah said, "These books are from the people who were killed. We have to break the code. We already have the first two words. We just have to find those two words and we are home free."

"Dimmock's case? Don't you think that the smugglers would steal the books from the homes so there wouldn't be a guess at what book to use?" Lestrade asked.

Sarah paused. "Oh unholy Bog of Eternal Stench he's right."

Sarah looked at Jareth's shelves and tried to remember what book was missing. She didn't have the thing mesmerized and it would have been useless anyway since Jareth seemed to not care where things went. She placed her hand in the empty space on the bookshelf, remembering vaguely that there was some sort of bright white cover there. Sarah said as much.

"Everyone. Something everyone would own," Lestrade said.

"It's a guide book," Toby said, "I remember it because it was so odd compared to Jareth's other books. We have one in the hotel."

"I'll drop you off there and get the book. I can't protect you here," Sarah said, "Lestrade, sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to help me to babysit for a few minutes."

&%&%&%

As Sarah left the hotel with the _London A to Z_ book, remembering old book codes when she ran into her father and stepmother. "Sarah, what are doing here? Shouldn't you be with the kids?" her father asked.

"Dad, I can't stay. I love you but I need to help a friend," Sarah said.

"Oh, I hope she'll be okay," her stepmother said.

"Yeah, I hope he'll be okay," Sarah said, "Got to run! See you tomorrow!"

"He? Who’s he?" Sarah's stepmother asked as Sarah ran off.

&%&%&%

If it were not for the seriousness of the situation, Sarah certain Lestrade would have snickered at the concern of her parents. As it was, they figured out the code quickly and got to the hideout faster than was legal. "How do the two of you keep ending up in these ridiculous situations?" Lestrade asked as they made their way to the tramway.

"Weird magnets. The both of us. That's my running theory, anyway," Sarah said.

They waited in the shadows, trying to assess the situation. Back-up was on the way, but Sarah doubted that they had much time.

The ring leader of the circus appeared also to be the ring leader of the smugglers and she was speaking to an obviously disoriented Jareth. "They say that you spoke in riddles to our ancestors when they treaded on your domain before you destroyed them."

"I didn't... destroy them. I merely allowed...them to fetch what they had wished away. It's not... my fault they didn't... understand a riddle that... teenagers have solved," Jareth said. _So I did choose the right door, that sneaky little goblin._

"Do you have it?" the woman asked.

"What are you... talking about?"

"The treasure."

"Depends on... what you consider treasure. Do be... specific. I... really have dealt with far... far... far too many treasures to remember a... that thing... whatever it is."

"The Empress' pin."

Jareth pretended to think before answering. "Nope. Still too vague."

"Valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the west. And then one of our people was greedy. He took it. Brought it back to London."

"I don't know."

"If you do not tell us, we will get that helpless little girl who is always with you. She seems to do nothing but hinder you."

"Well that's true," Sarah said. Her voice echoed off the walls, not giving away her and Lestrade's position. They quickly made headway to distract and disarm their enemies. Police sirens were heard in the distance.

"You take pleasure... in coming... in at the last moment... don't you?" Jareth said, a slight tone of relief running through him.

Sarah ignored Jareth. "You are correct that I hinder him, but only because I have defeated him. I solved the Labyrinth. I defeated the Goblin King. He has no power over me. I am the Champion of the Labyrinth and you have harmed one of the Labyrinth's citizens. I cannot let that stand." _Why can I only monologue people to death?_

The ring leader held up a gun. "I don't know much about guns, but I am fairly certain that the bullet will ricochet off these walls. It could hit anyone, even you."

Lestrade kicked over a burning brazier, the flames in it going out. Most of the tunnel was dark. There was the sound of a gun going off. Sarah heard a body hit the ground. She made her way quickly and silently over to where Jareth's chair had been. Before she got over there, it tilted over.

"I am normally more graceful," Jareth muttered.

Police began making their way into the tunnel.

"Yeah, well I am normally less childish," Sarah said. She went to help Jareth out of his bonds when she realized they were iron shackles.

"Oh no. Jareth, are you okay? Are you breathing all right?"

"I will be fine once I am released. These bonds are... quite effective."

"Blessed by a priest and everything?" Sarah asked as lights were shining on her and Jareth.

"Certainly feels like it," Jareth said.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For protecting my siblings."

Jareth sighed and smiled a little. "It was nothing, precious."

Sarah said nothing about the nickname.

"You're still a princess fighting bad guys," Jareth said.

_Why does that sound familiar?_

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing to worry about precious."

&%&%&%

Mycroft Holmes was sitting in Jareth's chair when they came back. Mr. Holmes' umbrella was leaning against the seat. The entire apartment appeared to have been cleaned.

_I really don't want to know how he gets in here._

"Hello, Mr. Umbrella," Sarah said.

"Good evening, Ms. Williams," Mycroft said, "I saw that the two of you ran into some trouble tonight. I came by to offer assistance."

"What? Did Mrs. Hudson call you?" Sarah asked.

"No, he has bugs all over the flat," Jareth said. He sat down heavily on the sofa. "There better not be any left in Sarah's room Mycroft."

"Oh, I made sure those were gone," Mycroft said, "A woman must have her privacy. I was informed you were knocked out by Chinese smugglers, Jareth."

The former Goblin King ignored the British government and spoke to Sarah. "And before you ask, I have tried getting rid of the bugs, but I can never seem to catch them all," Jareth said.

"Gotta catch them all," Sarah said. The two men blinked a few times, not understanding the reference. " _Pokemon._ Never mind. I suddenly feel much more self-conscious about walking around in my pajamas."

"You have no problems with the goblins or myself seeing you," Jareth said. He walked slowly over to his room.

"That's because you guys don't count," Sarah said.

Something close to a chuckle came out of Mycroft's mouth.

Jareth leaned against the door frame leading to his bedroom. "Anything I should worry about, Mycroft?"

"The world is on the brink of nuclear war, there are three new types of deadly virus invented this week, and Furbies are coming back. No, not at all," Mycroft said.

"Then I bid both of you a good night. I am going to sleep for a while before my head falls off," Jareth said. He closed the door to his room.

Mycroft stood up and tugged at his suit jacket. "That goblin is going to get us all into trouble one day," Mycroft said, "Good night, Ms. Williams."

"Um... before you leave, I have a question," Sarah said.

"Yes?" Mycroft said.

"I found a skull in my closet when I moved in. Jareth said it was his and Sherlock's old dealer, is that true?" Sarah asked.

"Possibly," Mycroft said.

"And Jareth also said you had other... trophies."

"Possibly."

Sarah threw her hands up in the air. "Mr. Umbrella is a great serial killer name, sir. Please don't make me your next victim."

Mycroft bowed his head, smiling a little. "Good night, Ms. Williams."

&%&%&%

As Sarah went into Jareth's room to check on him, she was surprised to find Rossetti petting Jareth's hair as he slept. The Goblin King stood up and motioned for Sarah to be silent. Quietly and quickly, Rossetti led Sarah into the living room.

"Why have you not healed him?" the Goblin King asked.

"I will pass out if I try," Sarah said, "What are you doing here?"

"I am making sure that my subject is well treated," Rossetti said, "As well as informing Jareth that... there have been developments that concern him."

"No but... you were... petting Jareth," Sarah felt amazingly uncomfortable, "It's just... what... what are you two? You don't seem to be lovers but you two know each pretty well and... you don't seem to really be friends and you two fight all the time..."

Rossetti smirked. "Sarah, dear, when did you and Jareth first meet?"

Sarah spoke slowly and carefully. "The first time I remember was when he took my brother. Why?"

Rossetti's smirk grew larger and showed pointed teeth. "I think it's time I remind you." The Goblin King then gently touched Sarah's forehead.

&%&%&%

"I hate you," Rossetti said. She sat in a theater balcony, waiting for a play to begin. She wore a silver dress that was very eighties. Actually, everyone in the theater looked like they belonged in the eighties. Jareth was next to her, in a simple but elegant black suit. He was resting his foot on the balcony ledge.

"Now Christiana, you said you would keep an old man entertained for an evening. It's not your fault you did not specify _what_ we were going to do," Jareth said.

"I hate musicals Uncle Jareth and you know it," Christiana said.

Jareth placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Now you are just trying to make me feel ancient little girl."

The lights brightened a dimmed for a moment. An announcement was made. "The part of Milly will be played by Linda Williams this evening."

Jareth sighed. "I was hoping to see Ms. Keel, but oh well." Jareth made a crystal appear in his hand and he rolled it between his hands.

"Slow down princess. I don't want you to fall," a man said as he helped his daughter (who was maybe three years old) down the stairs. 

"But I don't want to miss Mommy!" the little girl said. The little girl stopped by where Rossetti and Jareth were sitting. She curtsied. "Can we get through please?"

Jareth put away the crystal and smiled slightly. "Of course."

The man ruffled his daughter's hair and they moved to the seats next to the Goblin King and Rossetti. "I promise, my daughter will be well behaved. My name's Robert. Robert Williams."

"Jareth."

"Christiana."

"I'm Sarah!" The little girl was not sitting down yet, but twirling in her white dress.

"So you are a princess," Jareth said.

Sarah nodded her head.

"And what do princesses do?" Jareth asked.

"We fight bad guys!" Sarah said.

Jareth laughed. "So, no prince charming for you, then?"

"Kissing is yucky," Sarah said, making a face.

"Yes it is," Christiana said.

The lights went out and the show began.

The little girl was behaved and seemed to glow every time her mother, Linda Williams, came on stage. Jareth seemed in a genuinely good mood once Sarah had arrived. 

At intermission, Sarah bounced up and down. "Isn't Mommy wonderful?"

"She is very good," Jareth said.

A man who an uncanny resemblance to Jareth walked up to where they were sitting. "Robert, Linda can't come up right now. She'll see you after the show."

Sarah's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, kid. She has a lot to do with taking over the part."

"Thanks Jeremy. Still on for poker on Thursday?" Robert asked.

Jeremy laughed. "Ready to get beat again?"

"Who lost twenty dollars last time?" Robert said, grinning.

During the second half of the show, Sarah fell asleep. Jareth had seemed troubled since he saw Sarah's sadness.

"What's wrong Jareth?"

"I do not like children upset."

"It happens. At least she seems to be loved."

"Yes, her father adores her."

"Jareth..."

Jareth smiled slightly. "Worried, Christiana?"

Rossetti rolled her eyes. "About humans? You know I have no desire to ever deal with them again."

They did not speak until after the musical was over. Sarah woke up for the finale and cheered loudly for her mother's bow. Jareth and Rossetti made themselves almost disappear in the crowd as they watched the little girl be reunited with her mother.

"Mommy!"

Linda Williams picked up her daughter. She had apparently been wearing a wig during the play and had the same dark hair as her daughter's. "Hello Sarah. Were you a good girl?"

Sarah frowned. "I feel asleep."

"That's okay sweetie," Linda said.

"She really was very good," Robert said. He kissed his wife and Sarah made a gagging sound.

Jareth made himself visible again, a bouquet of daisies in his hand. "For Mrs. Williams and her lovely daughter, who was quite polite."

Linda took the bouquet. "Thank you."

Jareth took a flower from the bouquet and handed it to Sarah. "For you, princess."

Sarah smelled the daisy. "It's pretty. Thank you."

Jareth nodded and left the theater. "You're an old softie, Jareth," Rossetti said as she followed him back to the Underground.

"That would be your father's fault."

&%&%&%

Sarah opened her eyes and blinked. "What the... how long... gah! Stinking pervert!"

"Oh hush, Sarah," Rossetti said, "Jareth is many things, but a molester he is not. Trust me, he does this all the time. He sees a child who appears to be kind and wants that child to be happy. You two probably would not have met until your wished away your brother if it weren't for the fact that Jareth has... enemies."

"What does that have to do with me?"

The Goblin King rolled a crystal between her hands. "The Goblin Kingdom is not a desirable place but the Labyrinth is among the more powerful places of the Underground. For some reason, those who want that power decided that you were a way to make Jareth squirm. He did not mark you out as his future queen or anything like that. He simply allowed his protection to reach your family and he checked up on you over the years. He viewed you as he would any of his subjects until you were about fourteen. Then he got all mopey. By all the powers, he was so mopey."

"Still a pervert."

Christiana almost rolled her eyes but resisted. "In Faerie, you are considered an adult when you can bear children. Do I think he got over eager? Yes. Jareth is not a patient man. Did he seek you out purposefully with ill intentions? No. Trust me on that. The poor bastard was downright ashamed of himself when he realized he fell in love with you. He considered himself your protector and anything... beyond a passing conversation was not proper. That and he invested himself once with a girl and he thought the feeling was returned but... never mind. I am not telling you that story. Jareth would not forgive me for that."

"Another girl?" _Of course there was another girl. You need to deflate that ego. Jareth is ten thousand years old or something. There had to be someone before you._

"Like I said before, I am not telling you that story. All of this to say, Jareth is an overly romantic idiot. Under that cold exterior is a hopeless romantic. Don't break him."

Sarah was quiet as she thought over what was said. "Wait... Jareth met me more than twice? How often has been interfering with my life?"

The Goblin King grinned. "Oh, how I love causing mischief. Let's see that little goblin squirm out of this one. Well, I need to go check on my goblins. They probably have painted the ceiling with chicken feathers by now."

"Wait. Before you leave, you said Jareth was your uncle."

"Yes. He is my mother's brother."

Sarah thought for a moment. They did have some of the same mannerisms and pale skin, but she had assumed that it was a Goblin King thing. Now, she noticed the way Rossetti smirked and pulled at her gloves like Jareth did when he was busy making wonderfully awful ideas.

"He mentioned your father."

"Oh, yes. He can tell you that story another time. Very interesting but... he might not be happy with me about that. What I told you was mischief. That story is personal."

The Goblin King bowed and disappeared. _I really hate when they do that._

Sarah sat in the living room, curled up in Jareth's seat. She needed to process what she had been told. She needed to decide if she was going to stay with a man who was in love with her but who she could not return that love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And 1986 did show up, just not in the way that was expected.
> 
> I said I wanted Mycroft to show up in this. So. Much. Fun. He's such a little snot.
> 
> You knew a Bowie song reference was coming. Just accept it. This need for David Bowie references is a part of the fandom and it shall never die.


	11. Chapter X: Another Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was inspired by "The Thin White Sleuth..." by Pika-la-Cynique (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/The-Thin-White-Sleuth-277488920) of Girls Next Door fame.

Jareth woke up to the sound of his phone going off for the first time in days. "Yes?"

"Lestrade, Soo Lin Yao has woken up and wants to talk to you."

"I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can."

&%&%&%

Sarah said nothing all the way to the hospital. Jareth wondered what was wrong, but was hesitant to bring up the subject. He did send a text to Dimmock, however, when Jareth realized where the jade pin was.

When they arrived at Soo Lin's room, Andy was by her side, holding Soo Lin's hand. She was smiling.

"Good morning, Ms. Yao," Jareth said, bowing his head.

"Sir, thank you," Soo Lin said.

"I am glad to be of service, Ms. Yao," Jareth said.

"My brother?" Soo Lin asked, her voice becoming very quiet.

"In prison," Jareth said.

Soo Lin nodded. "I knew that he was... but..."

"What your brother does is not your fault," Sarah said, "Your choices are the only ones you are accountable for and we thank you for your help."

Soo Lin closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "I am glad I could be of service.

"Treat her well, Mr. Galbraith," Jareth said, "A good woman is far more valuable than any piece of jade."

"I'll remember that, sir," Andy said.

With a bow, Jareth left. 

"Getting philosophical, Jareth?" Sarah asked.

"I am remaining the old sentimental man that I always have been," Jareth said.

"Rossetti showed me... the first time we met," Sarah said.

Jareth forced himself not to look surprised. "She did, did she?"

"Answer me truthfully and don't twist your words: did you give me that flower because you wanted me?"

"Now Sarah, how is this..."

"No twisting of words."

"No, Sarah. I gave you that flower to make a little girl who I thought I would never see again smile."

"When did you start pursuing me?"

"When you were fourteen and well past consent according to the laws of the Underground." _It nearly ripped me apart to realize I wanted you. You were a spot of light in my life. I did not realize until too late that you were my only light._

"Why did you bother protecting my family?"

"Because it was not within your family's ability to protect themselves from threats that were my fault." _How could I let a little girl die because I did not think about my actions?_

Sarah was quiet for several minutes. As they stepped outside, Sarah asked, "Why are you sharing the flat with me when I obviously hurt you?"

Jareth replied quickly. "Because I desire to be in your good graces, even if it is only as a friend."

Sarah stepped in front of Jareth to stop him from walking. "Will it be better for me to move out?"

"No." _Never. Stay forever. Let me just see you. Just let me see you and I can live._

"I can't... reciprocate."

"I know. I do not expect that you ever will. I only ask for you to continue allowing me to gain your trust so that I can know that I have done everything to repair the damages I have done to you." _I scared you. I hurt you. Please, please, please let me protect you. Let me be your friend. I don't deserve it. You deserve so much better than this, precious._

Sarah nodded and moved so she could walk beside Jareth. "Jareth... would you like to spend the day with my family?"

&%&%&%

"I think your father is hoping that I am gay," Jareth whispered to Sarah as they ate lunch with her family, "And your stepmother is hoping that I am madly in love with you."

"You'll be a eunuch if you imply anything and then it won't matter," Sarah said, "Besides, I am in enough trouble all ready when Sophie told my parents everything that happened last night."

&%&%&%

"The Bloody Tower may not be a good idea," Jareth whispered to Sarah, "The two princes might upset your sisters."

"True, but... wait. The two princes may have not been found. They just disappeared. Jareth, did you..."

Jareth shook his head. "It was before my time. Even the Goblin King cannot save every child, as you can see from your world."

&%&%&%

"But... they're princes. They aren't supposed to be murdered," Sophie said. She was sitting outside the Bloody Tower on a bench, trying not to cry.

"I am so sorry sweetie," Irene said, stroking her daughter's hair.

"No one said they were murdered," Toby said, "They just disappeared."

"But... King Richard..." Sophie said.

"King Richard loved his nephews. He had no heirs of his own then so why would he kill them?" Jareth asked.

"But... the tour said he was the most likely person to do it," Sophie said.

Jareth knelt in front of Sophie. "The tour can be wrong. History is often proved wrong. Do you want to know what I think?"

Sophie nodded.

"I think that Richard loved his nephews very much and did not want any harm to come to them. Henry Tudor (eventually Henry VII) hated them and was going to have them murdered. Richard was so worried he wished them away to the goblins and the two princes lived happily to the end of their days," Jareth said.

Sophie smiled. "That sounds good. Is it true?"

"From what I have been told, yes," Jareth said.

Emily grabbed Sophie's hand. "I want to see the ravens. Do you want to see them?"

Sophie grinned and ran off with her sister to a closed off grass area where one of the Tower ravens was hopping about. Mr. and Mrs. Williams walked together, slowly. Toby rolled his eyes but joined the rest of his family. Jareth stood up.

"I thought you said you didn't save them," Sarah said.

"I didn't," Jareth said, "I cannot lie Sarah. It is part of being related to the Fae. That was the story I was told growing up. I have no reason to disbelieve that story. Besides, isn't that a far better ending then someone being killed?"

Sarah smiled. "I suppose it is a better ending."

Jareth offered his arm out of habit, though he knew she would not take it. She surprised him however. He remained motionless as a feeling of warmth wrapped around him. _She's touching me. She's willingly touching me. Not because she has to heal me or pity me, but just because she wants to be near me. Oh, right breathing. Breathe. I need to breathe._

"Jareth, are you all right?" Sarah asked.

Jareth smiled slightly. "I am, Sarah."

And he was, for the first time in many years. Together they walked over to where Sarah's family was gathered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have guessed, I don't think Richard killed (or had someone else kill) his nephews. Whether it was Henry Tudor or some other party, I cannot say. That is just my personal bias coming through. There is evidence against Richard III but also against Henry and a mysterious third party but not enough for history to come down firmly on any side. (At least, from my research.)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Now, onto the next chapter of our dynamic duo in "The Goblin Games" a.k.a. "The Great Game", which should be done by the end of May.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, nothing beats glitter jokes to get back into the swing of writing _Labyrinth_ fanfiction. And yes, I did get a _Star Wars_ reference in the story.


End file.
